Choosing His Pieces
by macrauchenia
Summary: "He would have to choose his pieces. The best that he could find. The Gaiaphage and Nemesis were finally ready to face off." Perdido Beach's big three are sent to battle foes chosen by the Darkness. Post Lies
1. Prologue

**Title:** Choosing His Pieces  
**Setting: **Perdido Beach, an unknown spot underground, and Pilot Springs  
**Summary: **"He would have to choose his pieces. The best that he could find. The Gaiaphage and Nemesis were finally ready to face off." Perdido Beach's big three are sent to battle foes chosen by the Darkness.  
**Rating/Warning: **T - Very little language, decent amount of violence and fighting, some romance...T just in case.  
**Disclaimer: **One would think that after six disclaimers, people would realize _I'm not Michael Grant_ but I still have to do this. I do not own the original characters or Perdido Beach. I do, however, own my characters and Pilot Springs. I beg to the evening star that they aren't Mary Sues.  
**Authors Note: **This is my first full-length, multi-chapter story with an actually plot, and boy is it going to be a doozy. I've been working since June on this and if Plague comes out and messes everything up, pretend it doesn't exist. This prologue basically sets everything up. The first section is in present tense...kinda weird but I reverted back to past tense for you readers for the other two sections. Due to the long chapters (what's new?) I've had to split them up into two parts each...so be forewarned. Please enjoy and I hope you and I will both see this to the end.

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_The helicopter freezes in the air as if held by invisible hand. A spectator's observation wouldn't be that far from the truth. Five fearful faces peer through dirty and cracked windows at a boy with outstretched hands while a pair of brown eyes watches him from above a stalling rotor. Diana stirs from her jumbled pile where she was tossed. She glances at the pilot of the helicopter and, for a brief moment, their eyes meet. He gives her a wobbly smile before darting his gaze back to the freak who is deciding his and his family's fate. Little does Sanjitand his adopted family know that their free hospitality that they had given the boy and his company was inadvertently keeping them aloft. Without the strength of the Cheerios, the freak would never have been able to keep both the helicopter up while holding Penny in the air. Nor would he have been able to save Diana._

_Suddenly the helicopter is turning. Sanjit quickly snaps to the controls but is able to glimpse the boy's expression before the helicopter is all the way around. What was before only a look of mild discomfort now has erupted into a grimace of pain. A warning shudder threatens the helicopter's newly found peace. Sanjit nods once towards the boy on the cliff as he tries to maneuver back to Perdido Beach. At the same time a flailing Penny drifts slowlytowards the edge of the coast. She is hovering a few feet above the rocky edge of the cliff before her safety net pops. With a loud shriek she belly flops on the hard ground. She lets out pitiful cries and tries to drag herself away. The freak who had pulled her back does not try to force her back. Instead he sighs and his brow softens. Softly, so not to startle him, Diana is behind him. She places a hand on his still outstretched arms. _

_"Thank you," she whispers to him in a breathless voice._

_Caine Soren's hands drop weakly to his sides and he wakes from his trance. He falls to his knees and bows his head in exhaustion. Without Sanjit's food he'd have surely died from the pure effort needed. Through heavy breaths he is able to calm his heartbeat. Somewhere behind him a wide-eyed Penny scrambles to her feet and limps away. Silent and unseen, Bug follows her. Together they leave the opposite direction. The two are assuming Caine and Diana will return to the mansion and are not wishing for another confrontation. _

_Caine pretends not to hear what Diana said to him. He struggles to his feet and ignores Diana's outstretched hand._

_"Thank you Caine," Diana repeats in a much louder voice. "Maybe you aren't the total sociopath everyone thinks you are," she mumbles under her breath._

_Caine looks up at her and for a moment his cool, calm eyes are unfocused. "Never…again," he rasps to her. Never again will the Coates boy risk his own life to save someone else's. He casts one last baleful glare at Diana and staggers away. _

_Diana closes her eyes and takes a hitching breath. Inside a battle rages on. Should she follow him or should she go back to the mansion for food? She opens her eyes, stares blurrily at the departing form, and looks back at the mansion. Her stomach rumbles loudly. She frowns at the leaving Caine._

_"I'm sorry…" she whispers. She stands up and makes her way shakily towards the food stocked mansion. "I'm sorry Caine."_

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I will not…

I will not be…

I will not be beaten... _The slow, sluggish thoughts come from what was once a great monster. _

I am…

I am the Gaiaphage…

_Slowly the monster was gaining its strength. Though the foolish humans had thought they had defeated it when they tried to drill it away, they really gave the Gaiaphage the edge it needed. As soon as they began to relax, it decided to strike. It had used Healer's gift to form a new body from the mangled pieces of the boy who had drilled though it. The Gaiaphage was sure it would finallywin and enslave all those who had opposed it. Even Nemesis. But then things went wrong. Horribly wrong and the stupid humans beat it._

_The Darkness twisted and seethed with anger. It was so close._

I will have my revenge…

_Plans swirled in its mind. It would have its revenge. _

_The Gaiaphage paused. It struggled for a few fleeting moments to find the bonds it held on the weak, pathetic humans it possessed. It could not find a single one. Neither Whiphand nor Healer. The Darkness mulled this over for a while. It was out of the trap that it was the center of. Suddenly Nemesis's power weakened and the Gaiaphage tried desperately to pull down the walls. If it could succeed in that, then every single being in the FAYZ would belong to it. Nemesis screamed back his challenge and the protecting walls were built back up again. The Darkness realized that building the protecting wall in the first place was not the right thing to do. With a being as strong as Nemesis to protect those in the FAYZ, the Darkness had no hope of destroying both the Nemesis and his pieces. It thought again. The Darkness could do it again. Find another source of food, consume the stronger minded adults, and mutate the remaining life. Bring down the wall and have its power invade the surrounding land. It could have more slaves to destroy the _unfaithful_ones. Once the Gaiaphage's power spanned far enough, it would be strong enough to bring down the FAYZ wall once and for all. Once the wall came down, all hell would break loose and all citizens of Perdido Beach would die or succumb to Darkness's power._

_The Gaiaphage pondered over these thoughts for a while. At last it would have total control over its slaves. With a cold satisfaction, it sent its dark tendrils into the earth and sucked her of life. Slowly its plan began to set in motion._

I am the Gaiaphage…

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_Pilot Spring. A population of 500 comprised mostly of adults. Despite the rather low population the town was fairly large. It held a hospital, three schools, multiple restaurants, and several subdivisions; Pilot Spring had everything a town needed—complete with a mental hospital a mile down the road. The town was also self sufficient. Mountains bordering the small city ensured that not many travelers reached the town without a purpose and the only news came through electronic media. Even the nuclear power plant in the middle of Pilot Spring was run completely by the citizens and was the only source of power for the entire town. But the plant was built by amateurs, eager to boast their ingenuity amongst their rivals. Pilot Spring's plant was always a loose cannon and a recent inspection of the building hinted that not all was well._

_Like most small towns, it was a close knit community where almost everyone knew everyone else and what their great-grandmother's maiden name was. There were few secrets. Of the 500 citizens only a third was kids and from there only 75 were under the age of fifteen. Most of those children were under the age of five from the recent 'baby boom' to have hit Pilot Spring. _

_A young man, a week or two from his fifteenth birthday slipped quietly outside. The trash bag he was dragging behind was decidedly less stealthy. The boy dragged it to a rather beat up steel drum, tossed it in, and headed back to his house before jerking to a stop. He walked back to the trash can and searched for the metal lid that belonged to it. Some animal scrambled near the young man, causing him to jump. The boy calmed his heart and kept looking with no avail. He cursed his luck and wished he wouldn't be so forgetful. He glanced balefully at the lidless can and sulked back to the house. Doubtless he'd hear of it later when that same creature knocked and scattered all of the trash._

_Another boy was in the middle of something completely different. Sour smelling lab coats swirled around the child, who currently had a look of great distaste on his face. His hands and arms were bound tightly in a humiliating straitjacket. The doctors, some pimple faced and fresh out of doctoring school while others were old enough to have taught the newbies' parents, poked and prodded the boy incessantly with sharp and pointless objects. Before the boy would kick and scream, cursing and begging to be released. Now he sat still and calculating. It was all going to be a matter of time before _he_ was the one in control._

_Somewhere else a boy, completely unlike the first two yet somehow in between, was helping his little siblings into their pajamas and into bed. He fought back exhausted yawns as he painted exciting pictures into his brother's and sister's minds. He ignored his own wants, namely to get to bed himself, and placed his siblings' desires before his. With the younger ones safely in bed and asleep, he turned off the light and slipped out of the door._

_A girl at about the same age was perched on her father's makeshift cot at the town's disaster safe house. Her father, one of the head plant managers, pulled on thick leather gloves while questioning her on what to do in various emergencies. 'What would you do if the radiation siren went off?' he asked her. The girl thought for a moment before admitting she had no idea. He sighed sadly and told her there wasn't much that one could do. The girl never drew the conclusion that something was wrong until it was too late. _

_A young girl, about six years old, was also being tucked into bed. The girl stared at her caretaker with blank eyes and followed the prompts she had been taught ever since she was a baby. Suddenly the young girl's trance broke and she began to cry about losing Teddy. The women gave the child a thin smile and held a pink, demonically grinning bear out towards the girl. She tried to placate the girl but had no success. Disgusted, the nurse threw the wrong bear at the shrieking girl and stalked out of the room. Without Teddy the young girl couldn't tell anyone about the pictures in her head. The pictures that were threatening to burst out. The girl retreated into herself and refused to deal with anyone until Teddy was back in her arms._

_As Pilot Spring settled down to a quiet night's sleep, a slow light was pulsing at the nuclear plant. A dark skinned girl watched it hungrily while the green light caused her emerald eyes to glow. No one was accompanying her…no one even knew she was there. There were no guards to stop her. With a malicious smirk the girl pushed a button and the light began to flash red. By the same time tomorrow Pilot Spring would be forever changed. _

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**Well, there's the start of _Choosing His Pieces_. I hope it will do well. Sadly, this is the shortest thing I've written (The Prologue) and it's _still_ over 1,000 words. Hey, the only way this story can get better is if I either get kidnapped by aliens and have my brains swapped with a famous author _or_you kind readers give me constructive criticism. The former hopefully won't happen and the second would be much more appreciated! If my characters seem Mary Sueish already, I give you permission to skip the flaming criticism and set me on fire directly. Thank you for reading and more will definitely come! **


	2. Ready The Board Part I

**Title:** Choosing His Pieces  
**Setting: **Perdido Beach  
**Summary: **"He would have to choose his pieces. The best that he could find. The Gaiaphage and Nemesis were finally ready to face off." Perdido Beach's big three are sent to battle foes chosen by the Darkness.  
**Rating/Warning: **T - Very little language, decent amount of violence and fighting, some romance...T just in case.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant. But I do own the chess board in front of me which gave me inspiration for this story. Score.  
**Authors Note: **As afore mention, this story will have some themes of a chess game. I'm hopeless lost without a theme to tie through a fic. The first chapter is always dry but stick with this story, and I swear you guys will love it. At least, I hope you will. Sorry for OOCness.

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"I nominate Astrid the Genius to be on the town council."

"I second that!"

Quite dumbfounded, Astrid looked up from her spot in the plaza. She stood up slowly and managed to catch Sam's eye. He shrugged at her and looked over at Edilio. He shrugged as well and glanced at Dekka. This caused a sort of chain reaction between all of the standing kids—the ones who had also been nominated. It had been right after the poof of Mother Mary and they needed to reelect two spots for the missing chair seats. After Astrid had left, only six more people remained on the council. John Terrafino had taken the poofing of his sister the hardest and resigned from the council. "I've gotta watch all those kids now myself…" he had told them with a sad smile. The remaining council members had nodded sympathetically and expressed their heart-felt condolences. They all were burdened with the loss of Mary. With two-sevenths of the council gone, they called up an entire town meeting—with food of course, supplied by Albert and Quinn—in the plaza to elect the next members of council. As expected, Sam, Edilio, Dekka, Howard, and Albert were all quickly nominated. All five took the position with not so shocking expressions. Sam only nodded; Edilio and Dekka took it with impassive faces; Albert had a cool, calculated expression while Howard had on his trademark smirk. A surprising twist led Quinn to be standing up among the crowd. He smiled modestly and accepted the honor with red-faced thanks.

More and more kids shouted their assent for Astrid to rejoin the council. She looked around the crowd, as red-faced and flustered as Quinn. "Do you really want me back…?" she asked.

"Just as long as you don't lie again!" a voice shouted from the middle of the crowd. Laughter broke out and Astrid nodded, humbled by the remark.

"I promise I won't," the blond genius told them, holding up her hands. "No fingers crossed." This caused more laughs and a few claps. The residents of the FAYZ were much calmer now that the problems were generally fixed. Though some prejudice and fear remained, there were no more false prophets, no more threats from Coates, no more fires and Human Crew attacks, and best of all, no more Drake. The crops had taken an excellent turn and unique newcomers on the island told of potential sources of _real_, honest-to-God food. No more asparagus stalks and relish jars. For the first time, a normal human could be friends with a freak.

With the council nominating meeting over, the seven new—and not so new—members made their way slowly back to the Town Hall. A procession of kids followed, congratulating Quinn on his entry into the council and Sam and the others on their reelection. As soon as Sam and the rest of his council reached the large wooden doors, dagger sharp rocks were chucked through the crowd. Cries of pain rose and Sam jumped off the steps, hands blazing. He almost laughed as the speed the council all reacted. While Edilio, Dekka, and Astrid looked alert and ready, Quinn was frozen in place, and Howard was quickly calling for his 'Orcman' for protection. Sam couldn't find where Albert had drifted off to. Sam threw the thoughts from his mind and focused on the rising action.

_What the heck is that Human Crew trying to do now? _He saw who had made the cry and breathed out in relief. They were only scratched a little—nothing too bad for Lana. And they were normals. Definitely not something the HC would pull. As much as this should comfort the leader, it only made him feel worse. Sam now knew the cause of the flying rocks. He snapped his gaze back around the buildings of the town, searching for freak that was responsible for this. It seemed nearly impossible that he could have gotten off of Sanjit's island this fast. More rocks flew through the air and one nearly brained Edilio. He needed to stop this as soon as possible. A particularly blunt rock flew straight at him, too slow to actually be lethal, which he disintegrated instantly in the air. Sam frowned, confused by this. What was Caine playing at?

Another rock was tossed over at the large crowd. Sam reacted quickly and destroyed it. Despite the weird mildness of the entire situation, Sam wanted it over. Already the kids were starting to panic. Astrid was trying furiously to try to stop an impending stampede with Edilio's help. She seemed to have taken her promise to turn things around to heart

"Caine! Stop this now!" Sam shouted into the crowd. Any covered face could be Caine's in disguise. And there were a lot of covered faces trying to escape the debris. He watched the arms of all of those who seemed suspicious. Nothing. Sam cursed and his gaze darted around the abandoned shops. How easy would it be to hide there? He shot a warning blast into the decaying hardware store. The wood groaned loudly but no cries from Caine.

"How'd you know it was me?" A cool voice echoed around the now deathly silent opening. All crying had ceased and the townies looked around expectantly.

The oldest member of the FAYZ forced his voice into a light joking tone. "You don't think I'd know my own brother when he's trying to mess up our town?"

"Don't you mean _your _town?" Caine's voice has a snarl to it. "Sammy the King, Sammy the Overlord."

Sam grimaced. "We don't have one leader for Perdido Beach."

"So you're telling me you aren't the boss? I wasn't aware that this was a democracy! You still seem to have the upper-hand. Apparently no one wants to argue with Big Bad Laser-Hands Sam!" Caine shouted. This pulled a snicker from Howard. Sam shot him a glare and tried to get an accurate read from where his brother was hiding. He shot another warning blast into the also abandoned flower shop. The dried flowers exploded and burnt to a crisp but no Caine. He was rewarded for his troubles with more rocks being thrown into the now panicking crowd.

"Caine!" Sam shouted, lifting his hands up in a peace gesture. "Are you really that desperate for food to hurt innocent people?" He assumed it was food that Caine wanted. Either that or to kill him. Given the choice, Sam would rather provide the former.

"I don't need food, brother. I want something else!"

"What?" Sam cried. He was starting to get desperate. Now tougher things than rocks were being hurled into the screaming crowd. An uprooted tree barely missed a brother and sister pair who was shoved out of the way by the Breeze and Dekka saved a group of toddlers from being crushed by an abandoned Post Office mailbox.

"I want to talk!" Caine shouted. Suddenly he was behind Sam. Sam spun around, his laser hands pointed at Caine's stomach and head. Caine raised his hands in a surrendering way, pulling something up as well.

"Sam!" Astrid's voice took on a slightly hysteric quality. Sam looked at her quizzically. She pointed desperately at a hovering Little Pete. "He has Petey!"

The young boy was still in his comatose trance. He neither squirmed nor reacted to being hoisted high into the air. The lights at the end of Sam's hands glowed brighter. He didn't know what could happen if L.P. got hurt and he didn't plan on finding out.

Caine's eyes never left Sam's face. "Don't think you can burn a nice clean hole in me, Sam. As soon as you do, this little monster is going for a fast trip into the FAYZ wall. In case you haven't noticed, my powers are growing. Neither your gravity freak nor your Energizer Bunny will be able to stop him in time."

Sam sighed loudly. Slowly the lights in his palms faded out. He looked over at his brother and shrugged. "Fine. Let's talk."

"Not here!" Caine's face twisted up with an unidentifiable emotion. "By the FAYZ wall. Only me and you."

"Then let Little Pete go, Caine." Sam tried to placate his brother with his most soothing voice.

It didn't work. "No!" Caine snarled. Petey was still rising higher and higher. Sam was amazed at the amount Caine's powers had grown. He had had no control last time to lift things up gently. They usually went high into the air and that was the end of that until they crashed into the ground or the FAYZ wall a few minutes later. "He comes with us until we talk. Once we've…talked…he can go free."

Sam nodded at these terms. He wasn't exactly optimistic that they were just going to 'catch up' and swap stories. No doubt fighting would come from this upcoming chat. But whatever happened, Caine needed to be put down. He hadn't stopped Zil in time and innocent people died. They lost half the town to fire and Edilio was never the same. He couldn't let Caine be a problem like that. Ruining people's homes or their lives. He either stopped Caine or died trying.

Caine seemed to understand this and nodded as well. He spun around and stalked away from the town, Little Pete bobbing away feet above him. Sam threw one last wistful look at Astrid and followed his brother like the pied piper. What Sam didn't see—had he seen it, no doubt he would have flipped—was Astrid trying to be as stealthy as possible and following the three. And Sam didn't see Dekka shoot a knowing look to Brianna. He also didn't see Edilio grab his gun which resulted in Quinn instantly feeling that _he_ had to come along as well unless he wanted to be put to shame by the Honduran. So Sam definitely didn't see five other people following him and his brother with L.P.

* * *

The thing Caine wanted most after stopping the helicopter was to run back to the mansion and stuff his face with more Cheerios. Maybe he could apologize to Diana and have it all worked out between the two. That's what he wanted. But what he did was totally different. Before he was drugged by Sanjit and his lying cohorts, Caine was able to snag some untainted food. He pocketed it, not knowing he'd really need it later. Now Caine really wanted to rip into the chocolate granola bar and the bag of Mini Lays in his pocket. But he couldn't. He needed to find the boat. For that he needed his powers. He tried to pull up a nearby tree. Nothing. His thin arms sagged. Of course. He needed more food. The snacks in his pocket grew more tempting and he had to fight the urge by chewing on his thumbnail. Caine wandered around for a bit longer and finally found what he was looking for. A fresh fruit orchard. The watermelon and grapes were wilted from lack of watering but Caine could see a barely ripened pear hanging from a gray twig. The salt spray allowed it to barely survive. He pulled it towards him with his powers that remained and attacked the pear. It hurt his teeth to chew and the sour juice stung his parched throat. But he could still feel energy flowing through him. He debated about swallowing the rest of it down, stem and all but stopped. Somewhere he heard it wasn't good for one to eat the stem. He tossed the rest of the pear out and his eyes caught onto the pear tree. To test and see if his powers where back, he swept his hands across the wild fruit garden. The pear tree erupted out of the ground and flew over the cliff. Caine grinned. Not only was he stronger than ever, but he could also see the red glint of apples. It seemed someone on this island went to great pains to ensure the apple trees were watered before they left.

The next thing that had happened was of pure luck. Again out of a phantom feeling, Caine traveled to the edge of the cliff again. He debated about whether or not throwing himself off. What did he have to live for? He chewed on his lip and forced himself to push away the thoughts. He had something he had to do first. Caine looked down to see what he could spy. At first he saw the white yacht. Then his eyes caught on something drifting towards the shore. Caine squinted. Was it possible? Yes, it was. Caine rocked back on his heels, letting out a whistle between parched lips. The boat he and his crew had jacked from Perdido Beach's marina. Caine looked down at his hands and flexed his stiff fingers. Time for a little experiment. He pulled out a spare apple and chewed on it thoughtfully. Again he could feel strength coming in. His fingers twitched and he could imagine sparks jumping. Caine tossed the apple core towards the boat without using his powers. His throw was probably about twenty-five feet length-wise. It splashed about a fourth of the distance to the boat. _Then the boat's about a hundred feet away, give or take. _Caine chewed on his thumbnail again. He could only get 80 feet without bailing but with food in his system, could he push more distance? Caine looked at the boat again. It was only going to drift farther. He spotted the rope Sanjit and his family used to get down to the yacht. He sighed and pushed his hair back. If his crew was still on the boat, he sure needed a good story to get them to follow him again. His mind spun for a confident reason why he stranded the two versus tossing them to a food-filled island. With another cocky smile to get into the mood, he grabbed the rope and lowered himself onto the marooned ship. His ratty gym shoes hit the top of the yacht and Caine let go of the rope cautiously. He feared too much weight would cause the vessel to slip back into the ocean. _Stop worrying, Caine!_ He scolded himself for be scared. _If this old thing could hold a yacht, it can hold your eighty pounds._Still he slipped off the boat with wide eyes and after a few slowed seconds of free-fall landed on the firm sand with a grunt. He glanced around the sandy bank. Either this must've been on the other side of the island or it was covered with water because he didn't recognize it. He shielded the sun away from his eyes and looked for the little boat his crew had taken. Feelings he was not familiar with sloshed in his stomach—guilt and something else. Suddenly Caine got a Pirates of the Caribbean flash. The last time he had seen that movie was in the mayor's—Mayor _Temple's_office now, he fumed for a moment—office almost a year ago. Was this how Captain Jack Sparrow had felt when his crew mutinied? Caine shook his head. It was more the opposite. He abandoned _his_crew. He briefly wondered if either Tyrell or Paint were still alive. Doubtful but it had only been one day since they started drifting. Anything was possible in the FAYZ. Caine reached out his fingers and tried to pull the dingy towards the shore.

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**Urgh, there's the official start. Part 2 will be soon. I hope you like it and thanks to all of my reviewers.**

**_Kate of Carlay - Thank you for the review. I know I already thanked you, but I'm doing it again. The characters will definitely become deeper. How deep? I don't even know. _**

**_Unlucky Word Shaker - Wow. Thanks. Writing from the Gaiaphage's point of view was definitely something to write. You guys will definitely see the straitjacket boy again-and don't worry...he's going to be as psychotic as Drake._**

**_futurecullen26 - Thank you very much! I love it when people like my work xD_**


	3. Ready The Board Part II

**Title:** Choosing His Pieces  
**Setting: **Perdido Beach  
**Summary: **"He would have to choose his pieces. The best that he could find. The Gaiaphage and Nemesis were finally ready to face off." Perdido Beach's big three are sent to battle foes chosen by the Darkness.  
**Rating/Warning: **T - Some not so nice language but not excessively used. Not too much violence in this chapter.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant. But I have just realized the wonders and joys of online shopping. So do I own that or does the online shopping companies own my joy?  
**Authors Note: **Good Googily Moogily! Is this another chapter or am I hallucinating (P.S. I've also been suffering from Robin Withdrawal. If any of you guys have seen the new show, it's been my guilty pleasure. If any of you guys are as avid fans as I, you know what I mean about RW. That may have been why I am possibly hallucinating). Anyway, Part 2 of 2 for the first chapter is now up and ready. Again, I apologize for OOCness.

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"Un-freakin'-believable!" Tyrell sat down heavily in the boat. It tipped suddenly and Paint lost his balance. He wind milled his arms and tried to sit back down. A normal person—even a normally starved person—could stop themselves from falling out of the boat, but Paint had lost all sense of reaction and balance once he started snorting Behr. Paint shrieked and flipped out of the boat. In the ice cold water he began splashing desperately. Whatever he could do to keep himself above water.

"Shit!" Tyrell shouted. He reached for Paint and together the two of them managed to get the half brain-dead drug addict into the now violently rocking boat. "You stupid idiot!" Tyrell screamed at Paint. "You could have gotten both freaking killed!"

Paint felt his blood pulse. He didn't appreciate this tone of voice from little Tyrell. He had been picked on at his last school and Coates. It wasn't as if he needed some hothead screaming bloody murder at him. He was under enough stress as it was with Caine deserting them and all. "Shut up Tyrell!" Paint shouted back in an unnaturally clear voice for him. He guessed his little dip in the icy cold water was enough to shake up his systems.

Tyrell did in fact shut up. He stared at Paint with wide brown eyes. Apart from his shrieks of panic, he had never heard Paint talk in a raised voice.

"I'm hungry, you're hungry. I know." Paint started, his head not aching as it usually did from his inhalants. _The paint must've been some cheap knock-off brand...not the real stuff._ Paint thought. _It must've worn off_. "But I know that if we fight, I'm gunna eat you. I don't want to, but I will if I want to survive."

Tyrell gulped. He was rather a small kid for his age and Paint wasn't exactly a shrimp. His boat mate wasn't Orc-big but he could some damage to the smaller person. "Don't eat me, man," he whispered in a hoarse voice. Horrible thoughts filled his head; nightmares worse than Penny's wildest dream. Would Paint kill him first or eat him as he still screamed? Would he taste good? Tyrell almost considered tasting himself. How important was a pinky finger if it got nibbled off? What if it was his finger he was eating…? Could he stop Paint if he tried to lunge? Sure his reaction was slow a few hours ago but\ Tyrell doubted that was the case now. Tyrell noticed that Paint's normally dull blue eyes looked sharp for the first time he'd known the snuffie. _Get a hold of yourself, Tyrell. The guy is just putting up a desperate act. He still has barely enough brain cells to rub together._

Paint rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm not going to eat you, _yet_. But I swear if you yell at me again, your butt is mine."

"Erm, yes sir." Tyrell answered, feeling a weird combination of horror and relief. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Paint nodded. "Good." He ran a red tipped hand through his greasy blonde hair and learned against the side of the boat. His head ached from hunger but it felt clearer than its usual chemical haze. He could almost stop the constant ringing. After a few more minutes of concentration, the pain was completely gone. _Not bad, _thought Paint.

The two of them floated in a still silence for a few hours. Paint slept some and watched the sun some. Tyrell kept a lookout, one eye on the wide sea and FAYZ wall and another stuck to the island. It was only a few hundred feet away. Wasn't he a good swimmer? Maybe back when he had strength. He figured he'd get about a tenth of the way and sink like Jaz did. Tyrell groaned and rolled onto his back. His stomach hurt less that way. He closed his eyes, meaning to only rest for a moment but was shook away by Paint.

"Dude…look!" Paint pointed to the beach. He sighed and leaned back against the side of the boat, not really caring anymore, but Tyrell was curious to see what it was. The smaller of the two squinted and leaned carefully over. The coast was closer than it had even been before. They must've caught a drift. He saw a beached yacht crushed against the rocks. _There might be food_. Tyrell's mouth watered. It was only about a hundred feet away. Could he swim that? Then his eyes caught onto something standing in front of the white yacht. Not something though…someone. Someone who was incredibly proud of himself and reeling them in with his bare hands.

"That traitor!" Tyrell hissed. Still, Caine looked very promising, standing there arms out and what looked like a cocky grin on his face. And what was beside him. Small…red… Tyrell suddenly jumped to his feet, threatening to capsize the boat. "Hey! Over here!" he screamed as loud as he could.

Paint blearily opened his eyes. "Man, I thought you said you'd be quiet. And stop rocking the boat! Don't tip the boat over," he chuckled weakly at his joke.

Tyrell was still waving his arms around like crazy. "Over here! Over here!" He turned to Paint. "It's Caine," he breathed.

That finally woke Paint up. "We don't want him. He sent us drifting. He planned to kill us."

Tyrell was about to explain about Soren having food when the boat lurched again.

"Dude…" Paint warned his first mate.

"It's not me!" answered Tyrell, who looked wide eyed at Caine. Was he getting closer? "It's him!" he shouted, pointing accusingly at the freak.

"He's gotten stronger." Paint remarked, light eyes growing shaded. "Maybe too strong. When we land, jump him. Drown him or strangle him—I don't care which. He'll kill us if we don't."

Tyrell swallowed nervously. Caine or Paint. At this moment he wished he was that Bug kid who could just easily disappear.

Paint was watching Caine with narrowed eyes. The freak didn't seem like he was under much stress but his corner lip was barely twitching. Paint frowned. They must've been only forty feet away for him to notice that. After five agonizingly slow minutes, the boat scrapped across the boat of the sand bank. Paint jumped out, ready to fight, clown lips twisted in a snarl.

"Missed me?" was all Caine said as he tossed Paint a bag of chips and Tyrell the granola bar. Both boys squealed and tore into their treats like pigs—all fight forgotten.

* * *

Caine watched them with hidden disgust. Did he look that way when he ate the apples and the Cheerios? Gagging himself because he was so eager to get the food down? He watched them continue to wolf down the food. It brought back of awful memories of when the kids at Coates didn't have food. He tried to drown out the flashback he had when dragging the boat back. Panda's limp body, being hauled—first choppy and slow, then graceful as the instant food source became closer—up the hill. Carrying the food for the Gaiaphage to the abandoned mine. Why was it always him who always had to carry things? _Oh, right. 'Cause I'm the telepath. _Caine rubbed at his forehead and tossed the two of them each an apple which also quickly disappeared. Paint sat back and wiped at the still red smear on his face while Tyrell stretched out on his back. His shrunken stomach was bloated and felt like it was about to pop. It hurt more to lie on his stomach. But still, it was a nice feeling to be full. At least he had something in it this time.

"So, I hoped you two didn't mind your free cruise too much." Caine said nonchalantly, picking at his nails.

Feeling his confidence grow, Tyrell answered. "No, we had a nice bonding session. No doubt it was boring compared to your feast. Why'd you come back for us?" He demanded sarcastically.

Caine sighed. It'd be so easy to slam the both of them against the cliff side until they were pulp. But his past flashes and food had mellowed his senses and mood. "Actually I had a miserable time." Caine told them. "I was lied to, drugged, and almost murdered by a heartless witch."

Tyrell whistled. Something told him that it wasn't Penny Caine was talking about. "Yeah, so why did you come back for us?"

Caine looked at them with a dark expression. The same expression that set the little red flag off for Sanjit and Choo. "I don't want _you_. I want the boat. I want to get off this cursed island!"

Paint frowned. "I don't know how you can since we have no gasoline." He said in his drugged out voice. Maybe he could get Caine to underestimate him. With his head so clear, he felt like he could outsmart a hundred Caines. He felt as if he had never sniffed paint before in his life. He felt all cleaned out. It was…odd but not entirely unpleasant.

"Can't, y'know, you just throw yourself through the water?" Tyrell asked what he thought was an adequate question.

A cynical expression flashed upon the dark boy's face. "I don't want to use up all my strength," he told them.

"Then how we gunna get the gasoline?"

Caine smiled ruefully. "I've been experimenting lately." He reached up and twirled his fingers. "Loads of gasoline is still in that ship there." He pointed to the hull with his other hand.

"You're not going to make us climb that, are you?" asked Tyrell, feeling suddenly nauseous.

"No!" snapped Caine. "Watch!" Caine's fingers began to do a dance in the air. As if charmed by a snake soother, a thin odorous stream of gasoline trailed in the air. Caine was pulling the gasoline out of the yacht's own unused tank.

"Whoa," said Tyrell. As much as Paint loathed admitting it, Caine really did know his stuff.

Concentration was written plainly across Caine's face. He wanted to stop and quit. He wanted to collapse and eat that leftover apple he hid in his pocket. But unless he ever wanted to leave this cursed island alive, he'd need the gas. _My powers are growing like crazy!_ He allowed that single bit of pride in his mind. _I must be a five or six bar now. If only Diana could read me._ He paused and the gasoline wobbled slightly in the air. _Oh, Diana…_ He almost lost it altogether but got back his concentration just as quick as he had let it slipped. _On such childish things too,_he chastised himself. He was shocked to see most of the gasoline out and spinning above his head. His minions were speechless, watching Caine work and had not dared to disturb him. They were smart enough on that count—even brain-dead Paint. _I might keep them around a bit longer._

Now came the easy part. With the reverse of what he just did, Caine slowly fed the smaller boat's engine with the siphoned gasoline. It was full to the brim and Caine still had a few gallons floating above his head. He closed his eyes and flung up the unused hand. Instantly the inside of the yacht exploded open, revealing a stocked kitchen pantry. Caine's men were drooling at the thought of more real food.

"First find me a container for the extra gas. Then you can grab whatever your heart desires." Caine told them.

He got his pitcher in less than five minutes.

* * *

The boat ride back was anything but adventurous. No one talked the entire time. Caine was busy sitting at the bow of the small craft and chewing on his thumbnail. Paint was lounged in the middle of the boat and flexed his recently 'Buglified' hand. He stuck a particularly salty nail in his mouth and crunched. It had seemed like forever since he had had a Bugle. He could barely believe how it felt on his tongue. Tyrell kept the tiller while holding a box of Raisinets in the other hand and a bag of chocolate chips in his lap. Soon they reached the marina of Perdido Beach. Paint was wary to land here. He thought about informing Caine but stopped. Their leader didn't seem too concerned. Caine looked up and blinked as the boat bumped against the wooden dock. He stood up slowly, an apple clutched tightly in his hand. Paint wasn't sure what was up about the apple. All he knew was he had his Bugles and Caine had his apples. Caine cleared his throat.

"I am resigning myself as the Coates leader." Paint looked up. "This past expenditure has been very exhausting for me. I will not be the leader anymore."

_Yeah, big deal. There's what, seven Coates kids left? And most of them are townies now._Paint thought, surpressing the need to roll his eyes. But regardless, Caine had been better to him than he expected. He was still half-convinced that he was dreaming or hallucinating. The _real_Caine would have smashed them into fish paste back at the island.

"Paint, you and Tyrell are the new leaders. Good luck." Caine nodded then stood up. He stepped off the boat and walked away. Paint watched him leave, shaking his head. _How can he have so much damn suave and Tyrell over here can't even cover his mouth?_ He sighed and turned to Tyrell. Tyrell was fast asleep. He hadn't slept right in hours and a heavy stomach was calling him home. _It's a miracle we made it to the dock,_Paint thought. He got up, stretched his legs and followed where Caine had left—right towards Perdido Beach Plaza.

* * *

"What do you want to talk about?" asked Sam again for probably the fifth time. Caine ignored him and kept walking. While his brother's back was turned, he practiced flashing on and off with his hands. It wasn't hard now. It was almost as if he could just turn it on like a flashlight. He didn't need to concentrate anymore. Even his aim was miraculously improving. He could shoot small flat bullets or long sweeps of continuous laser. Sam used to be convinced he had always been able to do it but with Caine suddenly growing in powers, he wasn't sure anymore. Was it possible that the two of them were growing stronger together?

Sam almost smacked right into his brother. Caine stopped suddenly and Little Pete drifted slowly to the ground. "Now we talk," Caine told Sam, turning towards him. The last time he'd been this close to his brother was when they faced off against the Gaiaphage. Back then he had been thin and sickly looking, dark eyes shadowed and hair stringy. But almost everyone had looked like that. Then over four months had passed. There was food in the town, a reason for people to smile. Caine still looked like a skeleton. He guessed that at Coates Academy, there was no food. He remembered trying to just be able to ration out food, how difficult it had been. He shuddered to think what Caine had to do to stay alive. Sam's frown deepened. He was trying to fight off a wave of compassion for his younger brother. Despite trying to kill him several times, Caine had helped him defeat the Darkness and took out half of the Human Crew. And they were still brothers.

"How hard was it at Coates?" Sam asked. He clamped his mouth shut; he hadn't meant to ask that. Caine's eyes turned almost black. Suddenly Sam didn't feel like the oldest person in the FAYZ. Compared to his twin, Sam felt years younger.

"Hard enough."

Sam nodded. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

Caine turned away from Sam. "How are the kids who you pulled from the water last week or so?"

"Erm, fine?" They had pulled the wailing Coates kids out, gave them each ten pounds of food and sent them back to the Academy. Saving them alone almost cost Sam his head. He was eternally grateful but shocked when the council turned a blind eye and allowed him to. All the citizens of Perdido Beach knew was some mutant bear had broken in and had eaten fifty pounds of food. A few days later, all five came back begging to be let into Sam's town. He couldn't refuse and sent them out to the fields.

Caine nodded this time. "At least one good thing came of it then. I suppose it wasn't a total loss."

"What? Sanjit told the council that you guys made it to the island. You stole one of our boats, by the way, and destroyed the other. That's about a third of our fleet and we kinda need those a lot. But are the others not with you? Are they at the island then?"

"Yeah, I'm sure the rest of my school is having a fantastic time at two movie stars' mansion. Livin' la Vida Loca!" Caine snapped sarcastically. Sam waited for Caine to explain. "Diana tried to kill me so I wouldn't hurt Sanjit and his family. My group betrayed me and the other two knuckleheads who came with me would have killed me too had I not fed them. And the boat is back at the marina, right where it was a month ago. Happy?" He glared at his older brother.

Sam frowned. "I'm sorry…?" he said, wondering if this was the right thing to say. He always had assumed that Caine had been able to pull off the leadership thing easily. Sam knew firsthand how hard it could possibly be. He thought back to what Caine had said about Diana. Sanjit had told them that a girl named Diana had saved them. He just wasn't sure what the girl used as her method of restraint. Apparently attempting to kill her true love was the way she was able to get extra time. Sam felt a small iota of pity for Caine. He'd feel pretty messed up too if Astrid tried to off him. _And what was up with the boat?_It seemed like Caine had just given up being the villain and making Sam's life hard. Sam had almost been looking forward to searching the waters with Quinn and the other fishers for the boat to get away from the town. And here was Caine, giving the valuable asset up without a fight. "Are you okay, Caine?"

Caine didn't answer. Sam could see Caine's jaw clench and fists ball up. Then suddenly they all released. His hands dropped weakly to his side. In the perfect fighting stance to catch Sam unaware.

Sam noticed though and lifted his palms up. He did a quick check. Little Pete was sitting criss-cross applesauce style on the sandy ground, not looking at anything in particular. He looked safe enough. Sam glanced around frantically and noted with a frown that there was nothing Caine could use against him. Just sand and an uprooted tree on its side a few yards away. Little lights appeared out of the center of his palms just in case though. "Is that all you wanted Caine? To tell me about your pathetic life?" Sam asked him. "Or do you want something else."

"I want you to do something for me…a favor." Caine turned toward his brother, dark eyes suddenly blank.

"What do you want, Caine?" Sam asked cautiously. The light on his hands grew brighter.

"I want you to kill me, brother."

* * *

**Bum bum BUM! And yes that final line may seem a bit corny and not Caine-y, but I don't care. If you _do_think Caine is a little too suicidal to be rational, more explanations will come in future chapters, so just sit tight! I know this sounds pathetic, but sometimes when I'm sad, I'll sit in a corner and read all my reviews. Yeah... But thanks to all of my reviewers and alerters and favoriters! :]**

_**strawberry-fluff- As one Caine/Diana fan to another, I definitely want some romance between those two tragic characters too. It's just something will, erm, happen...? And it might be kinda hard to continue a direct relationship? Gah! I can't say anymore :) Thanks for the review  
**__**Atchair - I suppose we all shall see where this goes. Thank you for your comments and review!  
Unlucky Word Shaker - I really enjoy your reviews. They always make my day xD. Lemme just say thank you very much for all of your reviews. Anyway, I'm glad the story sounds realistic. That's always a good sign, right?  
sheepobsessed - Thank you! I was hoping this would sound like a PLAGUE stand-in until it actually comes out. So far it seems to be working. **__**  
**_


	4. The Sending Of The Invitation Part I

**Title:** Choosing His Pieces  
**Setting: **Pilot Springs  
**Summary: **"He would have to choose his pieces. The best that he could find. The Gaiaphage and Nemesis were finally ready to face off." Perdido Beach's big three are sent to battle foes chosen by the Darkness.  
**Rating/Warning: **T  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant. But I am wearing black socks speckled with black paint.  
**Authors Note: **Sooo... Who else thought there was going to be a FAYZ in Japan after hearing about the somewhat unstable nuclear power plants? I really hope everything in Japan and the surrounding areas turn out okay. Keep them in your thoughts! In this chapter we meet the OCs. Tell me if they are Mary Sues and Gary Stus.

**

* * *

**

It just happened. The way Raynold Marshall pictured the world would end. Everyone disappeared. He was chilling with his older brother and his brother's girlfriend when they just disappeared. Gone. Left the room. Left the atmosphere. Kate stayed a bit longer than Richie but only a few more moments. _It was her fifteenth birthday today too,_ he thought numbly. _What a bummer. _She had been panicking after Rich left, eyes wide and hyperventilating. Ray had just reached for the remote to turn up the volume on the TV and switch to what he wanted to watch. Suddenly the show he had been watching shut off and loud sound of static filled the empty room.

Raynold shrugged and set the remote aside. _No problem. It's probably just a freak storm. _Ray grunted and pushed himself off the couch. He walked slowly towards the window and pulled aside the curtains. He frowned. Not a cloud in the sky nor a person on the street. He turned back to the television and sighed. _Maybe we got the cable cut off…_ he reasoned. He walked back through the kitchen. "Mooom!" He shouted. No answer. He kept walking through the house, shouting for other members of his family. Nothing.

Ray shivered. "Maybe this isn't a game…" He scrunched his forehead up, thinking hard. Suddenly a topic that they had been discussing the day before in school came into his head. Mayans and their crazy cut off calendar. _Slackers who couldn't finish writing in all the numbers._ Sweat beaded across his forehead even in the freezing air conditioning. "Maybe it's the end of the world. And I'm the last person alive!" A weird smile forced its way on Raynold's face. "Heh, just like in that one movie," his giggled nervously. His greenish brown eyes darted from side to side, now starting to get worried. _I wish I had something to help me survive the Apocalypse or whatever this is._ Raynold turned back to the couch and jumped. Sitting right where his brother and girlfriend had been frenching was a brand new DVD copy of _2012_. Ray blinked. "So everyone disappears but I can have any movie possible…?" He grinned, fighting away a sick nausea feeling. He put the DVD in and jumped on the couch. "I could get used to this," he murmured, pressing the play button on the remote and trying not to think too hard about the fact that he was possibly the last person on earth. Thinking thoughts like that could ruin the movie.

* * *

Everyone was gone. Malachi Murdock grinned. At last he was alone. No more doctors bustling around him in clean white scrubs. No more security cops in their flawless uniforms, watching him with guns pointed at his chest. No more psychiatrists, looking at him over their wire rimmed glasses asking him 'How does that make you feel?' Only he and his stark white straitjacket were left. Because he was stark raving mad. That's why they called him the Mad M and M. Comparing him to a child's treat. He was no child inside his mind. Only his body made him a weak child.

Malachi stared balefully at where a security guard had been standing not five minutes ago. He was about to unlock the boy and give him back freedom of his arms. That's all he needed. Then the foolish guard would have been putty in his hands. But then everyone disappeared. At first Malachi was overjoyed. Now he was furious. He was almost about to escape when his salvation disappeared. _They all just poofed,_ he thought, suppressing a smirk. The boy didn't realize how close his joke really was.

He frowned and leaned back against the infuriatingly white walls of St. Johanson's House for the Dangerous and Delusional. That's where his parents had thrown him once they realized what their little boy was doing to them. They chucked their little pumpkin into a mad house. Malachi ground his teeth together. For seven whole years he was forced to endure torture upon torture as doctors came from around the world to study his remarkable case. Everyday he was poked and prodded; looked at like a dangerous bug not yet named. It was not a place a child should be made to grow up in—normal or not. The only comfort he got from this ordeal was that it was costing his _loving_ parents very much to keep him there.

Malachi pushed himself into a standing position. He pulled weakly at his clean bonds and walked slowly down the clean halls. Everything was clean here at St. Johanson's. They'd lose funding if it wasn't in complete condition. Based on the bills that were sent to the relieved families of the patients, the asylum didn't need any help from the local government. Malachi narrowed his eyes and kept walking. He stepped out of the serious cases corridor and found himself in the junior's wing. He had stayed there for a week until the doctors too noticed he wasn't a normal case boy. Then they too pushed him away to the truly crazy side. Malachi smirked as he padded down the halls then froze. He heard a soft crying. The boy blinked and walked towards the sound. He found a young girl about five or six rocking back and forth in a corner. He was her age when his parents dropped him of here with a several thousand dollar deposit fee and a laugh. He stopped and looked at her. She didn't seem to realize he was there. She just kept whining about losing Teddy, losing Teddy.

"Nutcase," muttered Malachi. Then it hit him what he said. He burst out laughing—something he hadn't done for a while. This stopped him and he blinked, shocked at his outburst. The girl did not even notice his laugh or his abrupt stop. Malachi shook his head at her and kept going down the hall. He poked his blonde head into another room and looked around. No one was home.

_Not many people seem to be home anyway_ he smirked, thinking of the girl again. He unconsciously shifted in his straitjacket again. To be free! Malachi sighed and kept going. Suddenly a chubby ten year old with shaggy red hair and freckles appeared. He looked at Malachi suspiciously.

"You're not here to give me medicine are you?"

If he had been able to, he would have raised his arms in a peace gesture. "No," he told the boy. "No one will give you medicine anymore."

The boy smiled. "Good, because it tastes awful. Nothing like candy." The red head made a face and stuck out his tongue. "Hey, what's up with your arms? That looks like a tight coat. Want me to help you take it off?"

"The straps are in the back," Malachi told the younger kid. He waited patiently as the boy freed him. Malachi suppressed a smirk at the foolish child. He didn't even have to use much effort and already this boy was bending to his whim.

With a click the jacket slipped off. Malachi gasped slightly as he was able to freely move his arms and hands. He smiled and closed his eyes, feeling very pleased with himself. "Thanks," he told the boy, walking away. Though Malachi considered his encounter with the ten year old over, the younger boy definitely did not.

"My name's Jeffery!" said the boy, following Malachi.

"Is it now?" he said through clenched teeth. "Well, that's nice."

Jeffery nodded, humming a song in head. "Are you going to go find candy? Because I want some... Candy is so much better than my medicine." Jeffery stopped and looked suspiciously at Malachi. "You're not going to make me take my medicine are you? It tastes horrible. Doesn't taste like candy."

Malachi could barely handle this child's nonstop prattle. He moved his left hand mechanically as if he was playing the piano. Instead what he was doing was playing the boy's empty mind. Instantly Jeffery's face froze and went blank. "Now, if you are going to follow me, _SHUT UP!_ If you are not going to remain quiet, leave." Malachi thought for a moment. "We are going to go look for candy," he murmured, eyes lighting up. His left hand stopped dancing and Jeffery blinked, looking slightly dazed. He rubbed his forehead but followed Malachi silently.

"Very good, my stupid pet," murmured Malachi, rubbing his left hand gently.

* * *

Loud sirens sounded all around Raynold. He glanced up blearily, already engrossed in just the first fifteen minutes of his movie.

_Sirens?_ He watched the screen for a moment. There wasn't anything bad happening yet. Raynold frowned. The siren screams got steadily louder. Loud enough for Ray to flinch and pull at his ears. He slid off the couch and ran to the window, pulling back the curtains. He saw kids younger than he all standing outside their houses looking confused. This both scared and relieved him. _At least I'm not the only one alive then…_ He looked farther down the road. A car had crashed into a water hydrant and two kindergarteners and their dog were hoping around in the cool spray. _But where are the adults?_ Ray fought back a rising panic. He paused the movie and slid on some shoes. Not even bothering to grab his cell phone, Ray ran as fast as he could towards Pilot Spring's emergency station. Maybe that was where all the sirens were coming from…

* * *

Brian O'Hare was ready for when this would happen. He had watched all the things on the news, talking about the gigantic orb that appeared around some small beach town in California. He remembered the newscasters talking about the horrible things going on in the globe—if anyone had survived, the madness inside the prison, pure desperation and starvation—and how no one had ever escaped from it. No one was sitting safely outside after they hit their not-so-sweet fifteen. The first tip off he had about what was happening was when the nuclear sirens went off. Brian had done his research and figured out that the bubble which trapped the town in California had a faulty power plant at its center. Pilot Spring also had a bad power plant. But instead of covering up their blunder, the town's mayor set up brand new shiny nuclear detectors if the radiation ever got bad. Brian winced. The sirens were going off, screaming Bloody Mary.

The next clue that Brian got that warned him of something bad was everyone older than him disappeared. He was fourteen and a half and it seemed everyone past the age of fifteen blinked out of existence.

But the final and most obvious clue was the buzzing white wall that surrounded the town of Pilot Spring. It cut right across his house at the top of Grant's Hill—the farthest outskirt of Pilot Spring town. Brian had pressed a hand against the wall and felt the energy buzz into his body. He screamed and ripped away his hand as soon as possible. Brian stared at the wall for a while longer before grabbing as much food that he could fit in a bag and trekked down Grant's Hill.

* * *

Green eyes blinked from their raised spot in the forest shrubs. When no one was watching, a girl with olive toned skin and rich, black hair stepped into Pilot Spring town. She smiled at younger girl wailing about her mommy and nodded towards a rather frazzled looking boy with dark hair hurrying someplace downtown. The girl watched him for a moment, her cool eyes calculating, and followed him to the town's emergency station. She fought back a smirk at the boy's wild expression as he searched for the siren noise. Then orange foam ear-plugs appeared in the boy's ears. The olive skinned girl blinked again. He didn't just put them in. They appeared there. He cast a panicked look around and almost saw the girl. She stepped back into the shadows and the boy's unfocused gaze swept over her. He seemed to relax and readjusted his ear-plugs. She smiled an even and white smile. Nerezza had found her first follower.

* * *

Raynold reached the emergency station which consisted of a fire truck, an ambulance and a volunteers' bunking house. He stared at the fire truck and then the ambulance rather stupidly for a few moments. Finally he looked at the red speaker above the two. The siren noise wasn't coming from any of those and again he was the only one on the block. Raynold turned and noticed a tall yellow and black megaphone above him. From that was coming the high pitch screaming. Ray shuddered. He didn't know what it was for exactly but the nuclear symbol on the side certainly didn't mean good news. Suddenly the siren's wailing became too much for Raynold. He instantly thought of his old hunting ear muffs and wished he had them with him. As soon as that thought was out of his head, the world around him became muffled. He could feel the blood pound in his head. Wide eyed, his hands flew up to his ears. He pulled out an orange foam ear-plug and stared at it incredulously.

"How did you get there?" he mumbled, trying to remember if he had slipped them in his pocket before leaving the house. He shrugged, assuming he did, and shoved the noise blocker back into his ear. Again the world became quiet and peaceful. He didn't notice an olive skinned girl come up behind him and he definitely didn't hear her call his name. But he did feel her poke his shoulder. He spun around and shouted in surprise.

The girl tossed thick black hair and smiled at him. "I am Nerezza. It is nice to meet you, Raynold Marshall."

Ray blinked. He pulled out his earmuffs. "What?" he shouted above the sirens.

Annoyance quickly flashed across the girl's face but then was gone, replaced by a forced smile. "I am Nerezza." She repeated. "It is nice to meet you, Raynold Marshall."

Raynold backed up. "How do you know my name?" he looked at her warily.

Nerezza's smile grew larger and seemed genuine. "I know everyone here." While Ray had to cup his hands around his mouth and shout to be heard, the girl could speak without raising her voice. Without knowing why Raynold could feel his arm hairs prickling.

"Are you new?"

"Yes." Nerezza said with a firm nod. Ray looked skeptically at her but she seemed unfazed by his suspicions.

"Erm, okay then. I guess it's nice to meet you too, Nerezza…?"

"Dark. Nerezza Dark." She smiled another pearly smile at Ray and despite the broiling hot weather, he suppressed a shiver. He was about to tell her goodbye when Brain O'Hare ran towards him.

"Ray! Thank goodness I found someone!" he wheezed out. "Everyone over the age of fifteen has just disappeared! By my calculations…and the fact that my brother who just turned 15 yesterday has vanished and I haven't seen anyone over that age yet."

Ray frowned. He was turning fifteen soon. In less than a week. Five days to be exact. "Do you need help or something, Brian?"

"Do you know what this is, don't you?" Brian asked Ray with wide eyes. "This is what happened to that town in California!"

"Perdiddy Boats?" asked Ray. He remembered seeming something like that on the news a few months ago. "Like the place with the movie stars?"

"Perdido Beach!" snapped Nerezza, interjecting herself into the conversation for the first time. Brian blinked at her.

"Who are you?"

"Nerezza," she told him, green eyes narrowing. This one was dangerous and a threat. "I'm new."

Brian nodded, more concerned about their current predicament than a new kid. "Well, this is exactly what must've happened in Perdido Beach." He nodded towards Nerezza again. "I don't know if their people disappeared but ours did and we have the same wall. And a power plant that malfunctioned."

Ray's eyes glanced up at the still howling siren. "So that's what it's for…"

Brian followed his gaze. "Yeah, it happens when our power plant busts. We should go check it out and maybe try to do something about the uranium. Can't have it seep into the water system. Maybe it'd give us all superpowers." Brian smiled blandly.

"My Spidey Senses are tingling," Ray giggled nervously. He was still a bit terrified with what Brian said with the age limit.

Nerezza glowered at the new boy. _He's going to mess us all up! Talking about power plants and Perdido Beach. And _superpowers_! Nemesis is going to catch us soon enough if he hasn't already made this human one of his pieces. _The girl probed stealthily at Brian's subconscious and was shocked to find he wasn't 'corroded' by Nemesis. Regardless, Nerezza had to get rid of the boy.

She looped an olive toned arm around Brian who looked very uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Maybe instead you should go tell people to meet by your town's main square. Your town might have to elect a leader and you'd definitely be the right choice," she purred. Brian cast one last wide eyed look at Nerezza and Ray before heading off towards the main square.

Ray watched him leave and turned back to Nerezza but no one was there. He frowned and looked the other way. No sign of the mysterious girl. Raynold shrugged and followed Brian to the main square. Before he left though, he shoved his ear-plugs back into his ringing ears. Some one needed to shut off those sirens and it sure wasn't going to be him.

* * *

**Bleerrggg. I'm sorry about the spacing and breaking. It's kinda annoying to have a paragraph then change views. But that is the only way it'll work D:... Hey guys, hey guys, if you review, I might be tempted to post the second half of this chapter later this weekend. Thanks to all of my faithful and awesome reviewers. **

_**Unlucky Word Shaker - Mmm...Paint won't be able to join Human Crew anytime soon. I don't know what the flip I'll do with Tyrell. We'll just see what happens with Caine :D Thank for the review  
strawberry-fluff - Thank you for your review(s). I don't know if you meant to submit two but both were greatly appreciated. I hate to say it, but I'm not Michael Grant. It was the greatest compliment that you confused me with him.  
Atchair - Reviews ever too annoying? Neeever! I love your reviews. Please continue with reviewing :)  
sheepobsessed - Wow. Five wows. I'm very flattered. Thank you so much for you reviews! I'm glad I was able to 'hook' you.**_


	5. The Sending Of The Invitation Part II

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant. I am not feeling particularly witty so no funny disclaimer either. And that wasn't supposed to be a joke. (-but that one was!)  
**Author's Note: **I cleared out that top section. It was too bulky and kinda gettin' on my nerves. It's not like you guys don't know the title of this fic.

* * *

Malachi squeezed his eyes shut and tried to remember the way he had come into the asylum. He backtracked through the juniors' wing with Jeffery in tow and passed the girl who had lost Teddy. He paused between two hallways and debated on which one to go down when Jeffery started wailing.

Malachi looked blankly at him. "What did I tell you about staying quiet?" he asked in a painfully clipped tone.

Jeffery blinked at him with runny eyes. "That's where they give me my medicine. Don't go there!" He gestured furiously at the darker hall.

The older boy narrowed his eyes and looked at the hanging sign, almost unreadable in the shadow. Jeffery was right; it was the pharmaceutical hall. Malachi nodded a brief and rather insincere thanks to the red headed kid and went down the forth, unnamed hallway. It never occurred to him that Jeffery knew which corridor Malachi was about to take before he knew himself.

A bright light came from the end of the hallway and Malachi was reminded by a famous phrase the nurses and staff used to joke about. Go towards the light and you're gone to somewhere better. Malachi got a weird feeling in his gut. Hope. Was it possible that after seven years of torture, he was finally to be free? He picked up the pace and walked down the hallway a bit faster. Jeffery had to jog beside him, a goofy grin on his freckled face.

Malachi gasped. The staff was right. At the light of the 'tunnel' were the exit doors. If you were right enough in the head or if you had a rich donor, you'd be shipped through those doors and into society again. And the nurses and staff would never have to see your face again.

He smirked. _Yeah, go to the light is what they say. And we'll all be somewhere better_. Malachi felt a silly smile grow on his lips. He quickly bit at it and tasted blood. _Don't smile, Malachi. It's not over yet._ The older boy walked slowly towards the cause of all the light. Hundred upon hundred of panes of freshly cleaned windows framed the large mahogany exit doors. Malachi was positive he had never seen a sweeter sight.

"There's your candy, Jeffery." He told the boy. Malachi glanced beside him, expecting to see the little boy's goofy smile. Jeffery was gone. Malachi twisted around and saw that Jeffery was cowered behind the front desk, whimpering about glass shards and his medicine. Malachi tilted his head and looked at him.

"What's got you so riled up, Pup?" he smirked again, gaining confidence. The only sane person in the asylum was breaking out. It sounded a little ironic to him. He decided to take Jeffery with him. Despite the boy's annoying tendency to never stop talking for more than a few minutes, he had a weird intuition that Malachi had seen promise in. Plus he could always do the grunt work. "Come on," he said, twirling his left hand again.

Jeffery got up and slowly walked towards Malachi with a blank expression. He was at Malachi's side and the freak saw something glint in the corner of his eye. He spun around and ran towards the hundreds of windows. Then he saw it. A black Chevy Escalade heading straight towards the two with no one in the driver's seat. It had traveled in a straight path all the way from the interstate and was about to slam into the many window's of St. Johansson's House for the Dangerous and the Delusional. Malachi took a step back but that was he could manage before the black vehicle slammed into the glass…shattering it all into millions of deadly shards.

* * *

"Where's my mommy?"

"I'm hungry!"

"I'm sick!"

"Why is it so loud?"

Dozens more of similar cries sounded around the main square of Pilot Spring. Brian rubbed his forehead. When that new girl had suggested he help take a stand, he hadn't understood how hard it would be. He glanced beside him at Raynold and mouthed 'help'.

Raynold shrugged, oblivious to the cries of help in his quiet world. If Brian was right and he'd disappear in a few more days, why did he have to worry about everyone else? Brian pointed at Ray's ear buds and pointed to his mouth. Ray made a face and pulled them out. Instantly the siren started up again and loud childish calls filled his delicate ears.

"What?" he snapped.

"I wish I had a megaphone!" Brian shouted back, having a hard time being heard. Though he couldn't stop the sirens, he could have everyone else shut up which would help greatly. Ray agreed on this and decided to experiment.

"Dude!" He shouted at Brian. "Promise not to tell?" Brian nodded uncertainly. In his mind, Raynold pictured the megaphone he had seen on a TV ad not even a few hours ago. It instantly appeared in Brian's hands.

"Whoa! Man! What was that?" Brian asked, eyes wide with wonder.

Ray shrugged. "Keep it a secret!" he shouted back.

Brian nodded and flipped on the megaphone. "Everyone!" He shouted into it. One by one, the cries for help and screams died down. All eyes turned expectantly towards Brian. Brian gulped, now a bit nervous. He took a deep breath and continued. "Hey everyone. I bet you guys are wondering what the heck just happened here. Yeah, we all are." He looked over at Raynold who gave him the thumbs up. "This thing may have happened a few months ago in a place near California's coast. We just need to keep calm."

"What happened to those people in California?" asked an unknown voice. There was silence apart from the screaming sirens.

Brian pursed his lips together. "We don't know. They most likely are perfectly fine. And the reason they are OK is because when the youths of those places were trapped, they did not fight. They worked together peacefully." Brian wasn't actually sure what they did or even if they were still alive but decided a little white lie wasn't going to hurt anyone. "We have to elect a leader who oversees everything."

Raynold grabbed the megaphone from Brian. "I vote for Brian…who's with me?" he shouted at the crowd and lowered the loudspeaker. _Just as long as I don't have to do anything._ The rest of the crowd cheered as well. Some didn't know who Brian was but a few remembered him from school or the debate team. "I guess you won," Ray said out of the megaphone at his friend. Brian nodded, red faced with pride and embarrassment.

Suddenly Nerezza was beside Ray. The crowd gasped. How could she just appear like magic? And who was she? She took the megaphone from Ray and flipped it back on. "And of course we need someone to react in emergencies. Someone brave, strong and…resourceful." Nerezza stared pointedly enough at Ray to cause him to squirm. "That's why I nominate Raynold Marshall to be your new emergency action chief!" This too was met with loud applause. Just as long as someone seemed confident and willing enough to help, the crowd was satisfied. As Brian continued talking about his emergency plan, Nerezza led a slightly irritated Ray away.

"What exactly does an emergency action chief do?" Ray asked Nerezza as they walked back towards the fire house.

"An EAC makes sure that when problems arise, it is taken care of quickly." A dangerous glint sparked in the girl's eyes. "You're like the emergency crew…I have a friend who may be able to help you soon." She smiled at him and walked a few feet away. She paused and turned back towards Ray.

"And you may want to check the mental hospital a few miles from Pilot Spring if you know what's best."

Ray nodded uncertainly and went to go find someone who could drive. If he was smart enough to know what was best, he'd still be in his quiet house watching the movie.

* * *

Malachi opened his mouth to scream and tried to get back as far as possible from the glass wall. He ended up tripping over a wailing Jeffery. _Of course!_ Malachi was able to think before crashing to the ground. _He knew this was going to happen and I was being rash and ignored it!_ Malachi cursed loudly as the SUV crashed into the glass. In a tremendous roar, the glass imploded and rained down shards as sharp as knives on the two boys. Malachi could barely hear Jeffery screaming above the howling of the wind outside and the screeching of the metal frames. _It must be a windy day…_ thought Malachi weakly before he felt a stab of pain across his forearm. He hissed and twisted his head to look down. A gash about two inches long was carved into his arm. The wind blew harder and pushed some pieces of glass in on the boys. Malachi couldn't hear Jeffery's screams but could faintly register his own racking sobs. More knives rained down on Malachi and scratched his face and legs. As soon as he could think straight, Malachi pushed himself towards the mangled form of Jeffery. Clearly the boy got the worst of it. Malachi was about to shake the chubby ten year old awake when a horrible groan sounded from the blown out wall. Malachi's neck cracked as his head spun around fast enough to see the metal frame around the impaled car begin to tremble. Another roar and the metal broke free. It whistled through the air and landed on Malachi's left leg with a sickening, bone splintering crash. Malachi screamed until he finally nodded into unconsciousness on his bed of broken glass.

* * *

Ray wasn't sure for what he'd find when he and his 'team' got to the place Nerezza had told him go to. He certainly wasn't expecting to see half a car and tons of glass. Ray jumped off the back of the fire truck and gestured for his guys in the fire engine to come closer. The two who were working the ambulance jumped out as well and pulled a gurney behind them. Ray cautiously maneuvered himself inside, careful to dodge extra pieces of free falling glass. What he saw next almost made him lose his lunch.

At first all he saw was blood. So much blood. Ray suppressed a violent heave in his stomach and called his guys inside. Next he saw the body of a ten year old that was so cut up and shredded there was no hope that it was still alive. Ray bowed his head at the poor boy and kept surveying the scene. There! He saw another small boy—though this one looked about his age or maybe a year younger. Blond hair was splayed haphazardly around the boy's head like a blood soaked halo. He had several deep cuts on his arms and face but nowhere near as bad as the other kid's. Ray's eyes traveled down the boy's body until he got to his legs. Ray gasped. The right leg looked reparable while the left leg looked like it had been practically ripped to ribbons and was currently pinned under a heavy beam. At that moment, Ray's crew—three boys and a girl—came through the glass trapped entrance. Ray covered up the two bodies as best he could by standing in front of them. He sent the girl and the youngest looking boy to keep looking for others. With a sad expression, Raynold called over the two other boys for help.

The moment the thicker of the two saw Jeffery's body, he cried out and ran back down the halls. The thinner one ran to the side, threw up, and then came back though looking no better.

He nodded towards the body of the ten year old. "Is he…?"

"Yeah. He's dead."

Then he pointed towards the blond one with the twisted leg. "What about him? He doesn't look as bad except for the leg."

Ray studied the older boy. He smiled grimly when he noticed a struggling rise and fall of the boy's chest. "He's alive—but barely. We have to get him back to town as soon as possible." He turned to his help. "Can you drive?"

The kid shook his head ruefully. "We'd probably end up like that SUV if I did." He said pointing towards the still rammed in black Escalade. Ray frowned. That was something he would not want to try.

Just then the girl came back into the room, leading a small three year old boy by the hand. She caught one looked at the two mangled up humans on the ground and nodded tightly. "I see," was all she said. She quickly covered the little boy's eyes and led him outside. The two boys inside the lobby could see her buckling the boy into the fire truck and watched as she came back into St. Johansson's.

"Are either of them still alive?" she asked, no unnecessary emotion in her voice.

Ray was impressed. She was taking this the best out of all of them but he still noticed a slightly green tint in her cheeks. He told himself to remember her for future missions.

The thin kid responded. "The blond one, Mina."

Mina nodded. "Alright then. What're we going to do then?"

Ray turned to her. "Can you drive?"

She smiled thinly. "Yeah, a bit."

Ray nodded his own head. _That's good…That's good_… he thought. "We got to get him back to town. He needs help. The only probably is his leg. We can't get it with the iron beam in the way."

The three of them stared at Malachi until another kid came back with a whimpering girl, whining about Teddy. He took her into the fire truck, buckled her up next to the little boy and came back in. The boy frowned as he stood next to Ray but was still taking it better than expected.

The bad driver broke the silence. "How heavy is it?" He asked.

Ray kicked at the metal support beam which caused a metallic sound to vibrate around the lobby. "I dunno. Probably several hundred."

"Pounds?" asked the younger boy who had just come back. Ray blinked at him.

"Uh, yeah, several hundred pounds."

The boy breathed out in relief. "Good thing it's not several hundred tons."

The EAC shook his head at the kid and turned back to Mina and the older guy. "Have any ideas?"

Mina looked over at the fire truck. Then she turned back around, eyes wandering across the gruesome scene. "Let's pull it off of him using chains or rope."

The older of the two male volunteers nodded. "Yeah, we should have something like that in the back. What fire truck _wouldn't_ have any?"

"You guys are brilliant," Ray concluded after thinking about their plan for a while. He assigned himself of getting the chains. He looked in both vehicles and noticed with a slight pang of worry that there were no chains. Raynold thought back to what Nerezza had said. He was resourceful wasn't he? Instantly chains appeared in front of the EAC. At first the sudden appearance of the item caused him to jump and look nervously over his shoulder. Then he smiled and hooked them up to the metal and the back of the fire truck.

After a few minutes, the youngest boy—much to Ray's concern—sat in the cab of the fire truck and waited for his signal. Ray gave him the thumbs up, the fire truck revved ostentatiously, and slowly the metal beam slid off Malachi's leg. The injured boy shuddered but did not wake. The four of them picked up the boy gently and placed him on the gurney. After much cursing and strain, they got him safely in the ambulance.

"Good job," Raynold told his team. They were back in the lobby. He looked down the hallways for the remaining two members and then looked over at Jeffery's mangled corpse. "I'll take the hurt kid with me in the ambulance. Mina, you drive." The girl nodded once. He turned to the other two boys. "Help the others find more. They may or may not be the bravest so help them out a bit, okay?" Someone—Ray had a feeling it was either Nerezza or Brian—had sent more help down via bicycle. They nodded as well. He was all the way through the door when the driver of the fire truck asked a question.

"What do we do about this kid?" he asked, pointing to Jeffery.

"Leave him."

The boy frowned. "It may make some of the kids upset though."

Raynold stopped. "Is it bothering you?"

"Well, kinda actually. I mean, its just a little kid." The younger boy made a face, he himself being only a year older than Jeffery.

"Then cover him up."

And with that, Ray slipped inside the ambulance and slammed the door. To survive in this new prison, he'd have to lose his past softness. Ray hated to admit it, but he knew it was true. And he was the softest person he knew.

* * *

Brian smiled comfortingly at the two young children and sent them away with a cookie and a doll. Their older sister had been 16. The appointed leader turned to the next group of kids in need of something and tried to help them as best he could. He couldn't fix every problem for them but what he was doing was helping the younger and more panicked children out an incredibly large amount. A lull in the tide of terrified kids allowed Brian to catch his breath and give the reins to a nearby volunteer. He slipped away as quietly as he could and avoided any confrontations with others seeking help. He ran a shaking hand through his messy light orange curls. Only a few hours ago they had been perfectly in place, ready for his part time job interview. Brian suppressed a bitter laugh. He had been so terrified. For days his only problem was if he could impress the interviewer. _Now I have quite a few more problems_, he thought ruefully. He scratched the back of his neck and started to really think about this predicament. Until then he had not had a chance to think. He was just reacting as fast as he could in the ways he thought could help the most people. Genuinely reflecting about this rather dreary future made Brian feel even worse. He didn't even want to attempt to think about the potential radiation problem. They probably already lost ten years off of their dramatically shortened life due to radiation poisoning. _And it's starting to change people too,_he thought, reminded of Raynold and his megaphone. Brian shivered and switched to another train thought.

_Nerezza…she seems to kn—speak of the devil itself. _Brian was cut off in his mind wandering by the sudden appearance of the girl in front of her. She had a cold but polite smile on her face.

"Brian, would you like to take a break from all of this stress? I know just the place." Her voice sounded eager, sounded dangerous.

The boy tactfully declined and told her he needed to go help the kids. 'Leader's duties' he used as his excuse. Brian told her he'd have to take a rain check, ran another shaking hand through his hair, and walked away. Quickly.

Nerezza gritted her teeth hard enough to feel her jaw ache as she watched him leave. That kid Brian was going to ruin the whole plan. He needed to be disposed of as soon as possible. She walked back to her spot in the forest. The sirens screamed louder. Nerezza smirked. _How come in all of my plans, we have 'sirens?' _The olive skinned girl suddenly froze. Was it time yet? She closed her eyes and strained to hear a faint murmuring. Her green eyes flicked open.

It was time to make the Nemesis choose his pieces.

Nerezza quickly crossed into town, ignored all greetings and questions aimed towards her and stopped in front of the main nuclear detector siren. She placed an olive toned hand on the cool metal and closed her eyes. Instantly the wailing of the sirens died down. All around her people sighed in relief. Nerezza grinned darkly. Somewhere in Perdido Beach, Nemesis would receive the challenge.

He would have to choose his pieces. The best that he could find. The Gaiaphage and Nemesis were finally ready to face off.

* * *

**So there it is. We meet the kids from Pilot Springs. Are they good? Are they bad? Are they dementedly confused? Only time will tell!  
You reviewers are the BEST! Do you all know I'm at _two _pages of review? That is awesome. I love you guys. You make my week. **

**_HungryInTheDark - _Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for telling me that. I've gone around for the longest time labeling anyone who can do stuff with their minds as a telepath. And about the Dark name, I had a really bad writers cramp and was too lazy to be creative. Thank you for the reviews!  
_Atchair - _I'm not completely sure on what you mean about canon and pairing up but I can tell you this _will_ be focused mainly on action and adventure. I'm horrible at romance so I'm not even going to try to put any of that in. Thanks a ton!  
_Unlucky Word Shaker - _Thanks for your review! I've been a little reluctant to describe them in great detail due to the fact that they are my first OCs but I will definitely add more!  
****_futurecullen26- _Can I just say that your review made me smile a lot? Thank you!  
**


	6. The Invitation Accepted Part I

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant. But I own this disclaimer! Does that not count for nothing? No? Ah...alrighty then.  
**Author's Note: **What is this? _Two_ updates in _two_ days? By Scott!

* * *

"You want _what_?"

Caine looked at his brother and sighed again. "I want you to kill me," he repeated.

Sam blinked. "I know what you said. Just…why?" He squeezed his eyes shut again and rapidly opened them. This could be a trick of Caine's. He braced himself to be tossed into the tree a couple feet behind him.

But Caine was still in his same defeated slouch. He glanced away from Sam and looked at the humming white wall of their prison. The boy began his self-pitying rant. "The FAYZ was supposed to be my place, you know? I worked so hard to ready myself for the old world but when the FAYZ happened, I couldn't believe my luck. Like it was meant for my ruling." A rueful tone crept into Caine's words. "Then you and your gung-ho self came along and flipped everything upside down. I suppose if you hadn't, we'd have a lot more to answer for now but still. It was supposed to _my_ town. Not my brother's!"

Sam frowned. "Yeah, but you still haven't answered my question. Why do you want me to kill you?"

Caine looked up at his brother sharply. "The question is, tell me why you want—no, _need—_to kill me. And don't you dare act like you're the last saint on Earth. There aren't any saints in this hell. Don't deny it. You want to kill me. I know you do. I saw you burn a hole through Drake and the Human Crew because they stood in your way. Well, I'm standing in your way now." Here the boy spread out his arms in a 'come and get me' sort of way with a tired smirk on his face. "You want your town clean and the only way to do that is to get rid of me. I'm the only threat left in Perdido Beach unless you want to go try to find hunger and blast that apart too." He sounded slightly sarcastic.

"I don't have to _kill_ you. Doesn't that seem a _little_extreme?" Caine shrugged. Sam gritted his teeth. He had forgotten who he was talking to. Mister Mass Schemer over there with his unrequited love and ego issues. "Caine, you can just move back in Coates Academy—"

"—And be surrounded by traitors the whole time? I think not. Even if I did manage to hold them off, I'd starve to death slowly later. If you killed me it'd just be a painless, swift end." Caine laughed harshly. "Maybe not painless. I still remember Drake's screams after you burnt off his arm. Begging for us to kill him. Would you burn me piece by piece and feel a cold satisfaction or will you do a kind, brotherly act and end it quick?" His tone was clipped and full of sarcasm. "Because that's what we are, you know. Brothers."

Sam shuddered for many reasons. He was fortunate to have been away at the time with Drake loosing a limb via amputating. Also Caine's question made him think. What _would_ he have done? _I'm not going to find out. I'm not going to kill him_, Sam thought firmly. He tried to negotiate with Caine.

"Well, what if we sent you food every so often as a peace treaty?" The council would not automatically approve but Sam was nearly positive he could pull some strings. He was—with the slight exception of Howard—extremely friendly with everyone on the council. "So long as you promised to leave us alone and offer assistance when needed, we could send rations to you. Killing is not the answer!" Sam half-pleaded. Though he remembered feeling a cool apprehension for going after Zil and Drake, only dread and sadness filled Sam's mind when he thought about slaughtering his own flesh and blood in cold blood murder. He had thought he had been ready to kill Caine. But that was before his brother was eerily pouring his heart out. Needless to say, Sam was very uncomfortable and quite unsure of what to do.

Caine laughed again, a horrible hollow noise that made Sam flinch. "Just imagine if you killed me. The praise you'd get. Big Man, Laser-Hand Sam bringing down his little bro and saving the entire town. You'd be the talk of Perdido Beach for months. Stories on how you fried me, inch by inch, revolving around. How I cried for mercy and finally you granted me it." Caine's eyes were steely and dark. "You'll be even more a hero than that Goose boy. Or Dekka who I heard saved all of those kids from the cliff. Maybe even that Mexican kid who faced off against Drake more times than both of us combined. All of them under Mayor Sam's rule. If you won't kill me, I have an endless amount of people who are willing to." After this last sentence, Caine's voice dropped down lower.

"Caine!" Sam hissed, his voice getting steadily louder. "You don't seem like the kind that gives up. Whatever happened to the Caine Soren we all despise and know from a year ago?" He tried to put a chipper jolt in his question.

The telekinetic stared at him with slightly blank eyes. "That Caine died a long time ago, Sam. He died as soon as the Gaiaphage took control over him."

"But the Gaiaphage! You told me yourself about how it had your hooks in your head. And after we destroyed it, you said you were free. Down there we were all about to die and yet you still kept fighting! You kept fighting until the Darkness was gone. The old Caine was still there." Sam felt very proud of his speech. At several times during that speech he wanted to jump or pump his fists. It was just _that_ inspiring. He smiled weakly at his younger twin.

Caine narrowed his eyes. Apparently he didn't share the same views as Sam. "_I _wasn't the hero. Goose was. I just did what he said. I was panicking Sam, panicking. Freaking out. Loosing it. Falling to pieces. I didn't care if I lived or died then and I sure don't care now."

The lights in Sam's palms went out. After letting it cool for a moment, the boy ran his hand through his cropped brown hair. "Caine, I refuse to kill you. And I won't let anyone else either. Jesus Christ, you're my brother! My younger brother!" He added as if that made a difference. "If I have to, I'll drag your butt back down to Perdido Beach and keep you locked up there."

"Thanks, but no thanks. The kids there probably still hate me for crushing the power plant and the Thanksgiving Day Battle. I'd be murdered the moment I step into town—though that would get the job done albeit very messy. As far as I can tell, the only option I have is for you to burn a hole through my head. Incinerate me. Do what you do."

Sam nodded regretfully. "Yeah, as you can imagine, they still are a little mad about that. Kids are monsters without their lights and TVs." He tactfully avoided Caine's other comments.

"I can imagine," Caine said. He looked down at his hands and sighed. "I suppose there is no way for me to get what I want." Sam shook his head. "You know what that means then, don't you?"

"Erm, you go back to Coates and we call this a day?" Sam asked, somehow getting the feeling this wasn't the right answer.

"No," Caine's eyes flashed dangerously. "We fight and you'll have to kill me in self-defense." Instead of using his powers as Sam expected, Caine struck Sam in the nose with a flying fist. Sam stumbled back and blinked tears away. He was shocked his thin brother could muster up enough strength to move that fast. Against his will, Sam's palms flared up and burned brightly—bright enough to reflect off of Caine's thin face. The younger twin grinned and held up his hands as well.

"I always get what I want, brother."

* * *

"I am _not _Mexican!" Edilio hissed underneath his breath. Usually the Honduran didn't get so worked up over the ethnicity mess-up except now he needed something to vent his tension through. The last bit about heroes was all Edilio was able to catch before Caine dropped out of his hearing. Honestly he was pretty honored to be almost praised by the psycho. Even if he didn't know what it exactly meant.

"Shh," whispered Astrid softly. She was too wrapped up in the clearly heated discussion between Sam and Caine to really hear the mumbling but she was worried the twins would hear them. All she could hear was Sam's part of the conversation for Caine talked too weak now, but she could piece together the basic idea. It was interesting. Usually Caine was the one who talked passionately and had the plans of grandeur but Sam it seemed was doing the majority of the speaking.

Brianna the 'Breeze' nodded glumly beside Edilio. "Yeah, and I so helped out the kids at the cliff! If it weren't for me, Astrid, you'd be a splatter on the sand. You and some other kid…who I think sprung a leak on me when I caught him." She made a disgusted face.

Dekka swatted at Brianna and hid a smile. "You saved two, Breeze. I saved a lot more. Now shut up."

Brianna turned to ask Dekka a question, something she had thought she heard at the town plaza, when a gasp from Astrid caused her to snap back to the action. With her super speed, she turned just in time to see Caine lunge towards Sam. With a loud crack, Brianna heard Caine's fist connect with Sam's nose. "What just happened?" she asked in a loud voice. She watched as Sam stumbled back and his palms ignite. "We gotta go help out Sam!"

Dekka winced. "Apparently Caine wants to fight. And not yet. We don't want to be seen."

"But why use his fists? Why not powers?" Edilio asked. He hadn't worked up as much of the conversation as Astrid did but he too sensed something was different.

Astrid shrugged. "Now, I'm not altogether positive so don't go holding me to this, but I think that Caine is trying to lose. Like, really _lose._"

"Y'think?" Quinn asked for the first time, eyes locked onto his best friend. He had watched in pure terror the entire time, remembering Caine and what he could do. He was waiting for the part where Caine would get beaten and run off. Now the gloves were off, literally, and Sam's hands were glowing brightly. Quinn smiled. "Trying to fight Sam so close is suicide. Look, the rat dropped his hands again!"

Astrid pursed her lips together. She was going to say more before fedora-boy had interrupted her. Despite Quinn's close friendship with Sam, the blond genius still hadn't forgotten Quinn's betrayal to Sam. Hardly anyone on the council—least of all Quinn—had forgotten about it.

Edilio pointed to the nearest thing that Caine could use which was the dead tree the five were hiding behind. "That's the only thing that Caine can pick up other than sand and L.P." He glanced back at the two fighters who were watching one another. "Caine has no ammo."

Astrid nodded. "You're right." She watched the two again. Caine had lowered his hands and stared fiercely at Sam while the other looked a bit green and had his arms outstretched with palms aglow. The brilliant lights that flared off of Sam's palms also made his face seem pale and green as well. Astrid wondered whether their face color was from the lights or something else. "He's waiting," she whispered. "But for what…?"

Her question was answered instantly. Suddenly Caine slammed his hands through the air roughly. Astrid gasped; expecting to see Sam launched hundreds of feet through the air. She watched with a dropped jaw; Sam was only barely pushed back as Caine's hands hit his shoulders. The older boy stumbled backwards and landed with a grunt on his back. _Does Caine even still have his powers?_Astrid wondered. She shook her head, remembering Petey. She looked around frantically and noticed her younger brother was sagged against the ground with no idea what was going on. He looked as fine as the boy could look. Astrid snapped back to the action. Sam was already up and glanced warily at Caine who was now several yards away. Caine muttered something incoherent to his brother which Sam replied with a frantic 'Stop!' Caine laughed and raised his hands. Suddenly Astrid felt someone suddenly jumping to their feet. It took less than a second. She groaned, already knowing who it would be.

"Hey Caine! Haven't seen your ugly face for a while." Brianna shouted, appearing in a blur from behind the dead tree. Caine lazily turned towards her and grinned maliciously.

Sam's eyes widened. "Breeze! Get back to the plaza!" His voice seemed panicked as if something was off.

Brianna didn't hear him. She just adjusted her red pigtails and balled her fists up. "Caine! If you value your life, get away from us and never come back!" She shouted at the thinner boy. He laughed harshly which caused Sam and the others to wince. Caine simply lifted a finger and sand flew towards the Breeze in a fitful sandstorm.

The sand was fast—but the Breeze was faster. In a flash of color and motion, Brianna appeared on the other side of Caine. The sand fell weakly against more sand. Not even taking time to look behind him, Caine pushed his hands backwards catching the proud speedster off guard. The girl squawked in less than a second before being buried in sand. Caine brushed off his pants and glanced at the tree. Sam turned towards the tree as well, feeling a pit in his stomach. If Brianna was there, then certainly Dekka was. If Dekka was, then Edilio and Quinn were sure to be there. And he was now positive Astrid would be there too. If Sam squinted he was sure that he could see four pairs of eyes looking through various cracks in the dead tree.

Dekka watched as Brianna was attacked by the sand storm. Losing her sense of reality, the gravity-defying girl jumped up and shouted "Brianna!" With outstretched hands, Dekka lifted the sand and a dazed Brianna off the ground. Then suddenly she realized her mistake. She turned towards Sam. "I'm sorry Sam," she said softly. She let Brianna settle gently on the ground and watched concernedly as the girl tried to get her bearings.

Sam bit the inside of his cheek and spun around to see Caine lifting the dead log that Astrid, Quinn, and Edilio were still hiding behind. He cursed under his breath to see the three there but felt strangely relieved. If Caine had no real murderous plans, maybe they would be safe. They could help convince his younger brother to come back to Perdido Beach. Instead of throwing the log off into kingdom come like Sam thought he would, Caine set it gently aside. Caine's eyes landed briefly on Astrid and a wicked grin crossed his face. Sam felt his entire stomach drop. Something was about to go terribly wrong.

* * *

Paint didn't know quite what he was doing. All he knew was what had happened in the past two days. Everything about his past life had been a sort of runny blur. _Like paint_, he thought with a smirk. _I supposed snorting paint and killing brain cells does that to people. _The boy froze in his tracks. First of all, he had never realized he _had _a sense of humor. Second, how could he not have remembered anything that had happened since leaving the island? He could vaguely remember Caine telling he and the other 'dumb muscle' about his plan to reach the island but that was about as clear as he could get. He remembered that sometime while sitting in the boat with Tyrell the fog lifted and that was when he felt better than he ever felt. He had felt alive and smart and _electrified_ but he could not for the life of him remember what had happened before. And third, he was _still_ trying to get rid of the red stain around his mouth with no avail.

The boy kept walking and clicked his tongue angrily in his mouth. He didn't want to think about how much this sounded like a soap opera. Like one of those episodes where a person wakes up from a violent coma, completely healed with no memory on what happened. He wasn't sure but he figured the entire circumstance of the FAYZ was some long epic movie. "Now showing in a theater near you," he muttered, rolling his eyes. He tried to think about his past and all he got was a foggy black mist. For all he knew, he could be sleeping or this could be one long nightmare from Penny. He stopped walking again. It was weird. This wasn't very _scary_. If it was something of Penny's, he was sure there would be spiders or half dead monsters. Not a fuzzy brain and a one way ticket to Perdido Beach. It was infuriating but he couldn't do anything about it. Even with his new, clearer brain, he couldn't come up with any explanation.

Paint sighed and headed towards Perdido Beach. There wasn't much he could do about things now but at least he was back on the mainland. The least he could do was go down to the town and beg whoever was in charge for a job. He didn't mind cabbages that much. As he went, the boy tried to summon up possible names of people he might've known. He only got about five before giving up with a frustrated kick at a nearby rock.

* * *

**Who doesn't just adore Paint? I love 'em and sadly I don't think he'll appear in PLAGUE D:**

**_JokerGrace - _Great new username! I didn't recognize you at first. Thank you for your review! And sorry about Jeffery...I didn't know what else to do with him D:**


	7. The Invitation Accepted Part II

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant and I have a stuffy nose. Can this day get any worse?  
**Author's Note: **Awww! This is a little baby chapter. So cute. Only about 2,000 words but it's jam-packed with stuff! I'm also working on an update to "GoneShots" so you may see an update on that later this weekend. You might see another chapter of this too. Hooray hooray!

* * *

"Let's see how you react now, Sam!" Caine shouted, raising the now twisting girl in the air. Astrid's ascent stopped after she was seven or eight feet in the air. Sam shuddered. Unlike the last time Caine had picked up his girlfriend at the Thanksgiving battle, Astrid still wasn't in any real danger. If Caine dropped her, she'd just fall a yard or so and land on her own feet without injury. Again, the lights in Sam's hands flashed brightly against his will. He trained them nervously on Caine's head, not knowing what else to really do with them.

The others noticed it too. Dekka held her hands to the side just in case she had to stop Astrid from rising farther. Breeze had stumbled to her feet and was shaking sand out of her pigtails. Quinn just looked kind of sick while Edilio aimed his gun at Caine's chest.

"Freeze, Caine!" He shouted. Caine looked at the boy and stared at his gun. For a moment he almost looked disappointed. Then the boy blinked and his expression changed into one of mock amusement. He laughed again.

"Brother, I can't believe you're about to give away your glory to the gunslinger." Edilio frowned, not quite understanding. Caine snarled at the Honduran and pushed Astrid towards him. He instantly put his gun away and caught the genius, both shouting with surprise. In the pandemonium Sam had fired random shots at Caine. Caine ducked, the thrill of past battles causing him to, and scowled. He straightened up and glared at Sam. "Do it again!" he snapped.

"No!" Sam said, lights growing brighter. Blood pounded in his ears. He had to control himself and not lose focus. _How can I force him to come quietly? Killing him is only what he wants_. Sam was still very against the killing of his younger brother yet now he was starting to realize how easy everything would be if he did. "Stop! Everyone, just stop!"

Everyone did in fact stop. Caine seemed a bit shocked and turned to face his older brother. Little Pete even twitched a bit and his eyes lost a bit of their blankness. Sam glanced at Dekka who nodded slightly.

"This is for Breeze," she muttered under her breath. Suddenly Caine lost all gravity and bobbed up into the air along with a few pounds of sand. He twisted furiously and glared at Sam. He shouted something but it was lost in the twisting sand.

Sam smiled sweetly up at him. "Wanna come down now, little bro?" Caine twisted more, still glaring at the five. He turned to Dekka. "Let him down—but don't hurt him."

Dekka stared at Sam as if he was crazy but nodded. Slowly Caine fell in stops and starts from gravity being acted on him and taken away. When he was hovering a few feet above the sand, Dekka let him down with a satisfying thud. Caine let out a single high-pitched yelp before falling over again. He held a thin hand up to a throbbing cheek where Brianna had just smacked him three times in a second. The girl became visible again, smirking at the telekinetic. Sam shot her a stern look with which she replied with a innocent shrug.

Caine's yip caused Quinn to jump. It had sounded vaguely coyote-like. He shuddered and pushed away more horrible visions from almost a year ago and returned to the current situation. He exchanged glances with Edilio who nodded. Together, the two jumped at Caine. Quinn took his right arm and held it tight while Edilio grabbed his left and pressed his gun into Caine's side. They made sure to have both hands firmly out of the boy's use. Caine wriggled only slightly before sagging forward. The two 'bookends' so to speak exchanged another worried glance. Edilio shook Caine's side which caused the boy to grumble and try to jerk away.

"What's wrong with him?" Sam asked, stepping closer to his brother.

Astrid frowned. "I'm not sure. I'm no doctor!" she snapped. Sam blinked and Astrid sighed loudly. "I'm sorry for snapping," she apologized. She should have been relieved to see Caine captured and Petey safe but something kept nagging on in the back of her mind. Astrid stepped towards Sam's younger twin. Slowly she reached out towards him, cupped a hand under his slender chin, and tilted his head up. It felt like an electric current had run through the girl. She wanted to jerk her hand away but she couldn't. It seemed like it was glued there. Inside her mind it flashed a brilliant white. She hadn't seen a mind this bright since she felt Sam's almost a year ago at the Thanksgiving Day Battle. She had believed her powers to be dormant until that moment. Astrid stared into Caine's face and in the too sunken in cheeks and bruised skin. This was the first time she was seeing him up close in forever and she felt as if he had become a different person. Gone was the smooth air, replaced by a desperation that had just run out. Then the streaking light left her mind and her thoughts became hers again. Astrid gasped and yanked her hand away. Caine sighed and his head nodded weakly forward again, too exhausted to hold itself up.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sam asked, eyes wide. Astrid had looked as if she had just seen a ghost. That wasn't very far from the truth.

The genius's mind spun frantically for an explanation. "He's starving to death. He's so exhausted he can barely stay awake," she murmured softly. Pity welled up suddenly inside her for the boy who had tried to kill her numerous times. Was Diana able to see something similar to the flash in her boyfriend's mind? Was she able to tell Caine something was up? Did she even care anymore? Astrid glanced up at Sam. "What did he want, Sam? Why was he here? Did he try to kill you again? Why wasn't he using his powers? Why didn't you use _your_ powers? Are you hurt? And why—"

Sam laughed weakly and interrupted the girl. "Stop asking so many questions, Astrid. It's so weird. Usually I'm the one belting them out. Ask them one at a time, please. And—" he looked over at the very sluggish Caine. "—pick one for now. We have to get him back to town as soon as possible." Sam shifted uncomfortably. "Lock him up so he can't get out."

Astrid frowned and tried to think through her muddled mess of questions. The rest could be asked in due time except she would have liked to know what caused all of this as soon as possible. "What did he want?"

Sam laughed again, this time it was a grim chuckle. "You had to pick the hardest one, didn't you?"

Astrid narrowed her eyes. "Fine, don't answer that yet. You will though," she threatened. Sam looked very uncomfortable now. He glanced around at the others, hoping they would come to his rescue. Edilio looked as if he was going to say something when Astrid barreled on in her speech. "At least tell me this: did Caine try to kill you?"

Sam shook his head. "No, kinda the opposite really."

Before someone could ask what he meant, Caine jerked suddenly. His out of the blue action shocked both Quinn and Edilio, who together tried desperately to get the telekinetic back under control. They were unable to do it as Caine's hands fell free. A dark grin briefly lit up his thin face before the two guards were sent sprawling backwards. Another invisible push shoved them farther back until they were at least twenty feet away. Brianna and Dekka were the next ones to be moved forcefully. They were pushed back farther and the lighter Brianna actually disappeared over the edge of the hill. Dekka tumbled down the side as well and was lost from sight. Sam spun around to face Caine, light flaring of his palms. Astrid glared at him hotly.

"That was a set up!" she hissed at him. "You were faking it! Weren't you, Caine? I bet you're not as sick as you act!" The bright flash filled her mind again. _How could I have been so stupid? _She berated herself. _Sam's light was perfect at the peak of his powers._

Caine grinned again and then it was gone. Astrid felt herself thrown backwards at the same place Edilio and Quinn were struggling to their feet. She collided into Edilio for the second time and knocked the two boys over. Quinn was groaning loudly as the three tried to untangle themselves. "Thanks a lot, Astrid!" he would be muttering quite often.

Sam raised his hands at Caine. "Astrid's right—you were faking it the entire time. Was the other thing you said fake too?" Sam narrowed his eyes. Caine stared at him blankly. "Answer me, Caine!" Sam shouted at him. Their eyes met and locked for a few seconds. Sam could hear the angry sounds of Brianna as she was making her way rather clumsily back up the hill.

Caine was the first to break off the staring contest. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Brianna too. He started to chew on his thumbnail nervously. He raised his hand to send Brianna back down then shook his head and turned back to Sam. Sam watched, waiting for an answer.

"I…I wasn't lying, Sam." Caine started softly. "Everything I told you about is real."

"It must suck to be you then," Sam said dryly.

Caine looked shocked for a moment then laughed ruefully. "Yeah, it sucks."

Sam pursed his lips together and the lights dimmed faintly. "Because I'm a nice guy, I'll ask you one more time." This phrase elicited a humorless laugh from Caine. "What happened to Caine Soren?"

"I told you, Sam. He's dead. He just needs his body to catch up with him." Caine gave him another sad smile.

Sam winced. "All right. So we know what happened to your spirit and sanity. And we kinda are figuring out on what to do about your um, body. What happened to your heart? What about Diana?"

Caine crossed his arms and looked away. He sighed loudly and Sam half-wondered if he was going to go into another self-pitying rant. "It was her birthday a month ago. She…she said she was going to step out. Said she didn't want to see me again. I…I made her promise to stay. I said I would give her something better in return if only she would stay with me. So she stayed." He shrugged. "I thought I would repay her by getting her to this island. It seemed like the only way to stay alive. Turns out she had other plans. She tried to _kill_ me, Sam."

"You're pretty worked up about that, aren't you? Gee…if you think that was bad, you should've seen some of the arguments Astrid and I've gotten into to."

Sam's suicidal brother gave him a look that was not very brotherly. "I thought Diana wanted to live. I was right…but I forgot one minor detail. She wanted to live without me."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "So go back to Coates or the island. Let her cool down a little. Sooner or later she'll forget why she hated you…at least she will eventually, and then you guys and be a happy, twisted couple again."

Caine gave Sam a regretful smile. "You aren't quite getting it, Sam. I don't mean she wants space. I mean she wants me dead. And now I'm giving Diana her overdue gift. I'm killing myself, with or without you. I was hoping you'd give me what I wanted but now…I suppose I'll just have do what I always do and fix the problem myself. Lesson to learn, older brother, you can't rely on anyone but yourself." The large dead trunk that Caine had moved gently to the side now rose high into the air. It floated slowly over Caine and rose ten, twenty, fifty feet in the air. Caine's hands stop climbing in the air and both the boy's hands and the tree seemed to hover in suspense. He glanced over at Sam and smiled a smile both apologetic and victorious.

"Cya, big bro," Caine said, a triumphant air in his quiet voice. With a grunt, Caine slammed his hands down. Above him, the tree shuddered then dropped out of the sky.

* * *

_Ah, so that's why he kept the tree safe… _From the moment the tree started to rise, Sam was already preparing himself for a quick reaction. He had been surprised to see his brother use the tree but then realized he must've planned to use the dead stump as a back up plan just in case. Sam silently applauded his brother for the plan while cursing him for being two steps ahead. With a questionable plan in his mind, Sam prepared himself and watched the tree rise higher and higher. When it started to fall Sam's hands shot out, palms blazing. _I only have one shot…_ Sam told himself, forcing his mind to concentrate. He bit his lip and light erupted from his hands. The entire place was bathed in an eerie green light. His laser kept on firing until loud screaming shot through Sam's concentration. The boy faltered and fell to his knees. He desperately tried to block his ears with his shoulder but the sound seemed to be coming from the inside of his brain. Sam glanced up frantically and met the eyes of someone, he couldn't tell who, before blacking out.

* * *

**I'd do another 'bum bum BUM' except for the fact that I already used my dramatic cliffhanger phrase just a few chapters ago. Thank you to all of my reviewers and favoriters!**

_**JokerGrace - Um, about the Cainia reason, I completely forgot about Diana. Thanks for reminding me. I threw a little part in the end. I hope it was satisfactory! In the next chapter you will see why its called 'Invitation Accepted' :D. Thank you for the review!  
sheepobsessed - Aww! Thanks for reviewing!**_


	8. The Invitation Accepted Part III

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant.  
**Author's Note: **Yes! Another chapter! And an update to GoneShots. No, you readers are not dreaming. This is reality. Anyway, I feel like this chapter is one of those ones where we jump out of the boiling pot but land in the fire. You'll see what I mean but I don't think you guys will like me as much after this.

* * *

As soon as the genius had untangled herself from the very uncomfortable position she and the two very loud boys were in, she jumped to her feet and watched the action. As soon as the tree started to fall, Astrid knew what Caine wanted. She turned away slightly, afraid to see Soren soup splattered all over the sand. Then Sam's brilliant lights flashed. Astrid spun around, wondering what in the world Sam was trying to pull off. With wide blue eyes, Astrid watched as a wide beam of light—wider than she had ever seen Sam use—engulfed the entire dead tree. The smell of scorched wood came into the girl's nose and caused her eyes to water. The brilliant light lit up Sam's determined face and caused the beads of sweat on his brow to shimmer. Astrid looked over at Caine and winced at the pure hatred and fury on the boy's green-tinted face. Astrid couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor boy for perhaps the tenth time that day.

The blast from Sam's lasers sent the tree spiraling backwards, narrowly missing Caine's ungrateful head. Though it missed the boy's head, Astrid could see smoldering embers and sparks shower on top of both brothers and burn into their exposed skin. The charred remains of a once lethal weapon exploded as soon as it hit the ground. Suddenly Sam's bright light dried up and the boy sagged forward. Astrid stepped towards the boy to settle him when he shouted 'Ahh' softly and fell to his knees. Astrid ran to his side, shouting "Sam, Sam!" but it was no use. The boy had already faded out. Edilio and Quinn both jumped to their feet and skidded to a stop next to Astrid, each one trying to get there before the other.

"Whoa…" Edilio breathed softly, wide eyes staring at the unconscious Sam. Quinn just blinked and heard a rustle behind him. Expecting Caine to jump up and toss him through the FAYZ wall, Quinn spun around, hands balled into fists. He sighed in relief to see that it was just a very dazed Brianna and Dekka making it up the hill. Dekka had an arm wrapped around the Breeze's shoulder and led her towards where the three were huddled around Sam. Dekka took one glance at the charred wood, a stupefied Caine just standing there, and an unconscious Sam and shook her head.

"What…happened?" she asked, not entirely sure she wanted an answer. She rubbed at her temple softly.

Astrid turned towards the two and shrugged. "We don't really know. Stuff just kinda happened…"

Brianna narrowed her eyes and slipped out of Dekka's grasp. "If Caine did this to Sam, so help me, that boy's not going to live to see another day."

Astrid suppressed the odd feeling to laugh. She shook her head. "No, Breeze. Caine didn't do this…at least not directly."

"Wha?"

Astrid pointed to the charred stump pieces and then back to Sam. "He was trying to destroy that tree. I guess it got to exhausting for him and he blacked out." Astrid neglected to tell the girl about Sam's weird actions with the clawing at his ears and the other things.

Brianna still looked unconvinced. "Yeah well, I still think we should just finish Caine off now." A soft cry brought all five of them out of their discussion. They turned around to see Caine jam his fingers into his ears. 'Not again!' he had moaned, eyes fluttering closed. He pitched forward and landed hard on his face.

Brianna erupted into mad giggles. "That was beautiful," she said through chuckles. Dekka, Quinn, and even Edilio looked slightly gleeful at the boy's strange actions.

Astrid frowned at their behavior but did not say anything or help Caine. Instead she turned to see Little Pete's gaze fixed intently on Sam. Then after a few seconds it flashed to Caine. After he stared at Caine for the exact same time amount, it seemed to move on to someone in the crowd. Astrid was almost positive it was for her and not someone else standing behind the genius. The girl was ecstatic. For the first time her little brother seemed to be waking up from his videogame withdrawal coma. Lost in the thrill of Petey's breakthrough, Astrid was about to tell Sam about it when she remembered the boy was unconscious. She frowned. Suddenly Edilio swayed on his feet.

"I'm not feeling too good…" he mumbled, tan skin paling. Quinn reached out to steady him. The moment Quinn's hand touched Edilio's shoulders, Pete let out a horrible scream. Quinn jerked his hand and looked as if he had set off a time bomb. Edilio collapsed in the same way both Sam and Caine did. Astrid saw Petey throw himself on the ground, screaming louder and louder. She plugged her ears and wondered if this was similar to the thing that Sam had felt. It still was strange to her that his screaming must've been internal while theirs was external. Through squinting eyes she could see Brianna and Quinn on the ground, grimacing while trying to cover their ears. Dekka was making her way slowly towards Astrid. The look in her eyes echoed Astrid's idea on trying to get Petey to calm down. They both crawled towards Little Pete, Dekka trying to coo in her softest voice with no success.

"Window seat! Window seat!" Astrid shouted at her little brother. The autistic boy did not respond to the trigger words either. He arched his back and kicked into the air like he did back when the FAYZ wall had vanished for a few moments. Astrid looked around, hoping to see the wall disappear again. Nothing happened apart from Sam and Edilio shakily waking up. Brianna instantly helped Sam to his feet while Quinn hauled Edilio to his. Astrid wondered briefly if Caine was up yet.

"Can someone shut that retard up?" an angry voice shouted behind Astrid. The girl grimaced. _Yeah, he's up._ Astrid thought grimly. _He's mad his plan didn't work. _Purposely keeping her back turned to the enemy freak, Astrid slowly made her way to a still screeching Petey. She patted his head and whispered soothingly to him. After Sam, Edilio, and Caine had woken up, his screams were not nearly as loud. He seemed to be winding down in his tantrum.

"It's okay, Petey… It's okay…" Astrid half begged for her brother to stop. Suddenly the howling ceased. The little boy looked once more at Sam, Caine and now Edilio—_It was Edilio he was looking at before,_ Astrid thought, feeling an 'aha!' moment—and returned back to his comatose state. His fingers moved lethargically, playing a video game that wasn't there. Astrid's shoulders sagged. So much progress lost.

Silence filled the sandy dunes for a short while. No one dared to say or do a thing. Caine slowly struggled to his feet and glared at the people around him.

Sam looked around wildly. "What happened?" He said, finally breaking the silence. Brianna, Dekka, and Quinn shrugged. Edilio still looked a little woozy. Astrid was about to explain when Sam suddenly disappeared.

"Sam!" she screamed. Everyone gasped and turned towards Caine almost expectantly. "What did you do?" Astrid demanded. "When is his birthday?" She already knew the answer to the latter question but she had to make sure.

The dark haired boy shrugged. "We turn 16 next month," he said in a carefree voice. "It wasn't me. And frankly I don't care."

Astrid glared at him and suddenly a flying hand caught the boy's face. He staggered backwards and narrowed his eyes at Astrid. "I expected malice from the Breeze over there. Not from you, Astrid the weak genius."

"Where is Sam, you half-witted Cro-Magnon?" she shouted at him, mind too frazzled to think of a more offensive insult.

"Did she just call him something you'd put on a salad?" Quinn asked Edilio softly, his humor falling flat. The Honduran just ignored him and the boy with the fedora turned back to the unfolding action.

Caine look like he was going to exchange a few pretty words when he too suddenly disappeared. The remaining kids gaped at the empty space.

"What happened…?" Brianna whispered, eyes wide.

Dekka shook her head. "I don't know."

"They're just…gone?" The Breeze asked.

Neither Astrid nor Dekka answered.

Quinn frowned then looked at the empty spot beside him. "Hey, uh, guys… I don't mean to bug you or anything…but where's Edilio?"

* * *

_Nemesis! I am ready!_

Little Pete blinked. Inside his head was the image of his now broken Gameboy. On the screen were four little avatars. Two were undistinguishable. Petey recognized one of the others as Nerezza and the last as part of the other avatar the two players had shared previously. He focused for a while on that one.

_It is mine now. We will trade. You will take one of mine._ An assortment of faces filled Petey's brain and he tentatively chose one.

_Pick two more pieces, _the Gaiaphage instructed the boy to do.

Little Pete paused again. Slowly he selected two more pieces. Three faces appeared opposite from the Darkness's avatars.

_Are you ready to finally end this feud, Nemesis? You will not succeed this time._

"I will not lose…" Petey mumbled softly, speaking his first words in months. This milestone was lost by all to the panic of the current Sam/Caine drama. After the particularly exciting part with the tree trunk, Petey met Sam's eyes. For a moment the two just looked at each other until Sam was wracked with an attack by the Gaiaphage. Petey fought it off by quickly sending the boy into unconsciousness. A similar thing happened to Caine. Unlike just sending raw shots of pain like he did with Sam, the Gaiaphage simply used his dormant hooks in the telepath's brain to torture the boy. Either method was painful to the receiver. L.P. also sent Caine under. The final piece of Nemesis was Edilio. Though the Honduran did not have powers, Little Pete knew he was destined to fill the space of the third avatar. He had purposely boosted the twins' powers to account for Edilio's lack of powers. The young boy met Edilio's wide, dark eyes and sent him into a sleep to protect his more delicate mind from the Gaiaphage. In his mind Petey surveyed his three pieces with a grim satisfaction. All three had gone up against the Darkness and all three had survived countless attacks. Edilio had survived being shot by Lana and strangled by Drake. Caine survived the cave attack and helped quiet the Darkness for a while. Sam was Petey's main piece. He had been ever since the Darkness tried to kill him off on the school bus. Various other times the Darkness sent minions to murder Sam. The mini fire starter at the start of the FAYZ, the coyotes, Drake, and Caine at the beginning. All sent to rid the Gaiaphage of Sam Temple. Little Pete nodded to himself. It was a good choice.

_I accept your challenge, _he thought back to the Gaiaphage. The boy threw back his head and screeched loud enough to put the siren at Pilot Spring to shame. As his screaming continued, his pieces woke up and the Darkness left his mind. Petey sent Sam, Caine, and Edilio to the game board and waited for the Gaiaphage to finish his turn.

The toy box with the sun in the corner waited for the game to end.

* * *

**So, no, Caine wasn't killed by the tree trunk, but now three of our favorite characters have disappeared. Does anyone else sense the action is picking up? I hope the 'Invitation Accepted' part of the title makes sense now. Thank you to all of my reviewers!**

**Kate of Carlay - Thank you for your reviews! I really appreciate them. About the Brian part, I, um, completely forgot that I had typed that it was his brother. After you said that, I went back, read it, and laughed for about five minutes at my stupid error. Hope it wasn't too bad for you. xD  
Atchair - 'Tis alright about not reviewing. I was kinda worried about writing Caine because I didn't want him to sound all mopey and stuff. Thanks a ton for the review!  
JokerGrace - Well, compared to the other things I've written, this chapter was a wittle baby. Could you believe it if I said that thinking about Astrid's power was the entire inspiration for this whole fic? It'll come more into play in later chapters. Thank you for your review!  
futurecullen26 - Thank you very much! I'm glad you are enjoying this so far.**


	9. Choose The Color, Choose The Side Part I

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant.  
**Author's Note: **Chapter 4 is up! We go back to Pilot Spring. And guys, I'd be much obliged if you readers voted on the poll on my profile about upcoming stories. Since this is doing so well, I wanna get something else out too. Tell me what ya think and thanks! :)

* * *

Brian collapsed into the nearest padded chair. He yawned loudly and glanced miserably at Raynold.

"Ray, this is going horribly wrong!"

Raynold shifted on his spot on the couch and shook his head. "Nonsense, Brian. Without your help, we'd be in so much panic."

The two were sitting in one of the various rooms of the town's council building. Nerezza had suggested Brian move to the mayor's former office. Brian politely turned her down, stating that the room seemed too dark. Nerezza only smiled just as polite and nodded. Unwittingly he had just foiled one of the girl's traps. It was still the first day that the strange wall had fallen but to the kids, it felt like weeks. Raynold had never remembered a more exhausting day in his life. Night had come and everyone went home to try to find sleep. They were hoping that this was all just a nightmare and they'd wake up in their own beds with just a faint memory once morning arrived. Ray had a twisting feeling in his gut that that wasn't going to be the case. He couldn't get the image of the mental hospital out of his head. _There was so much…blood. And too little life. _He thought, rubbing at his eyes. The blonde boy they had managed to pull from the debris didn't look too good by the time he and Mina got to the hospital. Ray doubted the boy would last much longer with no professional doctors left anywhere in their changed world. He left him in Mina's care and left as soon as possible, not wanting be hanging around when the kid died.

The talk slowed down and now the two were deep in thought about two completely different things. Brian was being the stereotypical natural leader—thinking about ways to keep his people from starving, thinking of ways to escape the trap the town was in, and thinking of everybody but himself.

Ray on the other hand was completely absorbed about himself. Normally the boy wasn't as vain as he seemed, and never would he usually think only about himself. But then everyone over fifteen disappeared and he was due for a one way trip out of Pilot Springs still in five days…soon to be four once morning came. Raynold felt that the possibility of dying was a perfectly good reason to obsess about himself. He had wanted to talk to Brian about it except the two had never been friends even before the blink-out. Ray was also worried he would come across as being arrogant and whinny. Here Brian was, working tirelessly to ensure that everyone survived this ordeal while Ray was only fretting about his own personal health. Instantly the older boy felt sicker to his stomach.

"Yeah…" he said slowly. He honestly didn't know why he and Brian were always together all of a sudden. The two hardly even knew each other not even a full day ago. Then again, everyone over the age of fifteen disappeared and the two were the first to step up. Or in Ray's situation, been at the wrong place at the wrong time. "You've been a big help, Brian."

Brian nodded and looked oddly relieved. He thanked Raynold and slipped out of the room, saying he had to do something before he finally went to bed.

_No doubt he's off to go regulate the work crews or recount the supplies, _Ray thought, a hint of barely detectable scorn in his voice. He was a little envious of how quickly Brian had taken hold of the situation at first. _Almost as if he was waiting for it,_ he thought. Then the boy shook his head. Brian had been just as stumped as he had when the sirens started ringing. Brian O'Hare just recovered quicker than Ray had. Raynold thought back with a frown. _It was that Nerezza girl who seemed to know what to do._ He remembered the girl suggesting to Brian that they needed a leader, nominating him to be EAC, telling him to visit the mental hospital several miles away, sending more help, and setting up a new plan for management. Ray was now realizing how odd it seemed for an exotic girl like her to suddenly appear out of thin air and know exactly what to do in a situation like this. Even in his wildest fantasies, Raynold could never picture a fate so _twisted_ as this. The boy quickly poked his head out the door to check and see if anyone was near. When he deemed the hallways empty, Ray thought hard on the first thing that came into his mind. He closed his eyes to concentrate.

"Nice newspaper," a voice said behind him.

Ray jumped and spun around to see Nerezza casually flipping through his recent experiment with a cool air. She froze on one headline. Green eyes quickly scanned the article and picked through various sources and quotes. "Interesting you picked this day and place," she said softly, eyes traveling from the print to his face. She studied him for a moment. "How are your powers developing?" Nerezza asked. "They seem to be doing well." She glanced at the name of the newspaper again; this time an expression of cold contempt flashed for a second across her face. "I hope this was just a coincidence," a soft growl in her voice.

Ray stumbled backwards and fell into the cushioned seat Brian was in not ten minutes ago. _How did she get here so fast? _"I-I don't k-know what y-you mean!" he stammered loudly. "This newspaper was already there!"

"Doubtful." Nerezza smiled at him with a thin 'I know you're lying' smile. "Your birthday is coming up." It wasn't so much a question as a statement. A painfully true statement for Ray.

Raynold stiffened. "How did you know?" he demanded.

The exotic girl tilted her head and looked deep into Ray's face. Her gaze was cool and calculating. "If you help me, little producer, I will tell you how to escape the age-jump."

"What?" Raynold shivered. Even though the boy was at least several inches taller than the girl and most likely older, he didn't argue against what she said. "I mean, what do I have to do?"

Nerezza's smile was able to not only to grow wider but also colder. "Tomorrow, random people are going to appear here. They'll just pop in, very confused and very powerful. Your job is to bring them to me. All three of them." Nerezza stopped to think back on her past experiences with the three to describe them. "One will be a typical 'surfer dude' as you would call it, one will be a solemn and cruel looking boy, and one will be Mexican." Raynold nodded slowly. Some part of his mind was waiting for the punch line to the joke. "Be very careful," Nerezza warned again, eyes flashing dangerously. "They too have powers except theirs are for killing—not for making newspaper clippings." The girl looked disdainfully at the paper in the floor and turned to leave.

"Goodbye, Raynold. The moment you bring me those _strangers_," she paused, "I will tell you how to beat the age-jump."

Raynold nodded slowly again and watched her leave. Before the girl completely left the room, she added "Be sure to practice your powers."

Ray shivered again despite the warm heater pumping hot air through the office. "A surfer dude, a cruel man, and a Mexican all walk into a bar," he muttered under his breath. "Rather appear out of nowhere." He glanced back down at the newspaper he had thought up. In his mind he just wanted something that could help explain what kind of torture he was in. The paper he got was the first cover of the mysteriously similar orb around the small town in California. Like Nerezza, he quickly scanned the write up, picking out various things. The things that popped out most dealt with topics like _'radiation had been strangely high the past few days and new mutations in creatures have been found in the surrounding area of the globe' _and the bigger one was _'there has been no survivors and no progress is expected anytime soon'._

"Brilliant," Ray said, crumpling up the page in a balled fist. He glanced out the window back in the office and suppressed his hundredth yawn. _Time to go to bed. Can't go on a scavenger hunt without sleep._

* * *

Pain was the first thing that registered in Malachi's mind. Pain and lots of it. Pain around his face and throat. Pain on his arms. The most amount of pain was around his legs. Especially his entire left leg. The blonde headed boy turned slightly and suddenly screamed out. All he could feel was the pain. Sound was the next thing the boy was aware of. He could hear the nervous shuffling of people all around him and the sound of his throaty scream._ Evidently I have screamed already, _he dully registered in a moment of clarity. Then the wave of pain was back.

"Help me!" he screamed hoarsely. "Please, help me!" It was one of the first times Malachi had ever used the word please, but he had never felt this weak before. The flurry of people around him stopped and the pain became a numb ache. It seemed as if the world had stopped turning around the boy.

_Come to me!_

Malachi froze. His insides became ice cold and it felt like a frozen hand was rooting through his mind. _W-what?_

_Come to me!_ The voice echoed around his head and seemed very forceful. The boy suddenly did not like having someone tell him what to do.

_I will not! You _will_ get out of my head! _Malachi said rather loudly in his mind. Even though he was unable to move his hands to make the threat more real, the injured boy figured that in his mind he would have an endless amount of control.

_Do not speak to me that way, slave!_ Said the cool voice. Malachi got the feeling he wasn't talking to anything human. Then the line about slave hit the boy and a white hot temper ran through him.

_I am not anyone's slave!_ Malachi shouted back, pressing his power harder. He was forcing more power than he had on anyone else he had ever met. On a normal human, Ray hazarded a guess that it would be enough to kill them.

At that moment all of the energy focused against this new intruder cracked. Malachi was thrown in his mind while a streak of pain lanced through him. Malachi felt icy tendrils, so cold they burned, dig into his head and rip apart his rational thoughts. While the boy struggled to get his bearings in his own mind and body, the dark intruder waited comfortably.

_Do not fight me. I will win._

Malachi was quiet for a moment. _Who are you?_ He asked tentatively.

A low grumble rolled in the boy's mind. _I am the Gaiaphage._ And that was all Malachi knew before spiraling into a sweet unconsciousness.

* * *

"Wake up!" a sharp feminine voice demanded. Malachi turned slightly and felt his upper leg shoot with a sharp pain. The boy instantly braced himself for a more serious pain in his lower leg and was dumbstruck when none came. He blearily opened his eyes and saw a tan skinned girl with an explosion of black hair around her head hovering over his bed.

"Ged 'way…" he murmured, closing his eyes again. He was suddenly so tired and so numb. His leg wasn't hurting anymore. In fact, it felt so light and free from its original heavy bandaging, Malachi was sure it was completely healed. He sighed happily and almost drifted back to sleep had something not been stopping him.

"I said, wake up!" A dark hand was wrapped around Malachi's neck. It wasn't enough to choke him completely but it made breathing a bit of a struggle. And it was definitely enough to wake him up.

Malachi's eyes popped open. "I'm up!" he hissed, feeling very cross at the girl. He shoved at her hand but was unable to move it. The hand tightened a bit more and Malachi started to pant.

"This wouldn't be the first time I killed someone this way," the girl's green eyes lit up with a wicked light. Malachi shuddered and pried frantically at the girl's hand. It seemed to be held there by super strength. He choked out incoherent words which caused the girl to smile. The boy was about to lose consciousness when the death grip lessened. Air was shot back into Malachi's lungs so fast it almost hurt. His head swam but he was glad he could still breathe.

"The last one was through with her job. Lucky for you, you are unexpendable at this time. Your job has yet to come."

Malachi shivered. "Who are you? What do you want?" he asked in a tiny voice. He really felt like his young age of thirteen here and not the spurned martyr from somewhere else he usually pretended to be.

The girl smiled. "I am Nerezza. It means da—"

"Darkness in Italian. Yes, I know. I'm not completely ignorant." Malachi interrupted automatically, unable to control his need to be right. The girl narrowed her cat-like eyes at him. "What do you want?" Malachi repeated. His face suddenly went pale as he thought of his past assailant. "You're not with the Gaiaphage or whatever it was are you?" his voice became timid again.

Nerezza tilted her head at him. "Well, you certainly are brighter than several of my other slaves." Malachi shuddered again. _Slaves…? _"Whiphand was just a barbarian and the Healer was foolish to believe to defeat me. And don't start on the Prophetess." There was a hint of spite in her voice which Malachi instantly noticed. It wasn't normal spite though; it was pure hatred and a nearly untraceable bit of fear. A fear of failing an important task. Malachi pocketed this information away for later days.

"What do you mean I'm your slave?" He asked snarkily. "When did I make a contract with _you_?"

Green eyes flashed dangerously. "You are correct. I have not yet forced you to work for me. If you do not agree to help me, I will kill you now. I do not believe you want to take that option, though. Besides, I have something which could be of use to you." Her gaze drifted pointedly to his left leg…rather what was remaining of it.

"What the hell happened!" exploded Malachi. Usually he wasn't one for profanities except this was clearly time for one. Everything from his left knee down was gone. He reached towards it with a bandaged hand and found with a sick jolt that nothing was there. It wasn't a trick of the light and it wasn't under blankets. Half of his leg was gone.

"The damage to your lower leg was too serious to heal by itself. Gangrene was going to set in and the only thing to do was remove the infectious part of the leg. The metal bar, when it fell, did an excellent job of preparing it. All I had to do was one quick slice." Nerezza smiled cruelly.

Malachi jerked forward. "You cut off my leg! I'll kill you!" he screamed at her, face red with fury. At that moment, he certainly did not look like an angel. More like a fallen angel.

Nerezza frowned at him. "I had to, Malachi. Without doing it, you would have died."

"Then you should have let it killed me!" Malachi sobbed.

The dark haired girl's expression turned dark. "Stop whining!" The boy was reminding her of that sadist slave she had who only wanted a new hand and revenge. Malachi instantly went silent. "Now, I have something that could help." The hope rolling off the boy almost caused Nerezza to be sick.

"W-what is it?" the blond asked, eyes wide.

"I too have powers like you althought I cannot manipulate as well as you." Here the girl smiled slightly and Malachi started to realize how pretty she was. "But I have other more important powers. I can give you something better than your old leg."

Malachi was hooked. "_Heal me!_" he demanded, twirling his fingers in the air. Instead of growing blank like his usual victims', Nerezza's face became furious. Like with the mind intruder a while ago, a sharp pain shot through the boy's head. He cried out and cupped his head in his hands.

"Do _not_ try to make me do your bidding!" The girl spat, eyes blazing. "_I_ control you! Not the other way around!" She stepped backwards, her face expressionless. She smiled sweetly at him and caressed the cut up side of his face softly with a hand. "I gave you your powers, Malachi. Do you really want me to take them away permanently?" Her hand pressed firmly against a bruise and Malachi hissed quietly. Then she was gentle again. "Do as I say well, Malachi, and you'll get your leg back. Do as I say perfectly and you'll get something more." She smiled teasingly at the poor boy who was instantly smitten.

Malachi nodded slowly. "Yes, Nerezza," he murmured softly. "I will be your slave…"

The girl grinned a perfect white smile. "Wonderful." She bent forward, kissed the boy on the cheek and turned to leave. "I'll be back with a few friends soon. For now, rest."

Malachi nodded and obediently closed his eyes. Nerezza's expression flashed as soon as he did. Her flirty smile became a dark glower. She wiped her hand on the side of her shirt and rubbed her lips roughly with a sleeve to rid herself of human.

"All of them are idiots," she muttered darkly. The girl left and prepared herself for the last piece of her game. "My stupid, loyal pawns."

* * *

**Aww, wittle Malachi's in wuv! And Nerezza is just stringing him along. Poor thing. Thanks to all of my readers!**

_**Kate of Carlay - **_**Yeah, this is a pretty long story. We haven't even picked up any action and its already to 25000 words. There's only one more person to join Nerezza's team and then we jump right into the action. I suppose you'll have to wait to see which side Ray, Mal, and Brian will take :). I don't quite understand what you're asking with Sam but I'll be happy to clear anything up. Thanks a ton for your review!**


	10. Choose The Color Choose The Side Part II

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant.  
**Author's Note: **Alrighty! Part II! I'm reading Plague right now and it's pretty awesome. I'm only a 150 pages or so in.

_Slight Spoiler! Slight Spoiler! Slight Spoiler!_

Some of the characters are really ticking me off. I'm not too fond of the Ellison family right now. I adore some of them so much. I squealed so loud when Ellen's name reappeared. I really hope she becomes a more important character. You guys know how much I love she and Edilio. But they keep saying Ellen's on the council and yet I haven't seen her. So I'm thinkin', where the heck is Ellen?  
Alright...Ellen Watch is on! She has appeared for the first time...and Edilio just sent her away. Dogarnit!

**Oh, and if you didn't figure this out, Choosing His Pieces is post-Lies. Pretend Plague hasn't happened yet.**

* * *

_Come to me. I have need of you, Whiphand._

This message caused the dirty girl huddled on a cold ground to glance up. Though the monster was currently in its 'Brittney' stage, she knew who was calling.

"Get away!" she screamed at the air. "Leave my head and leave this town! Go back to hell, you fiend!"

_Foolish girl. You think you can control my powers? I brought you back to life. Give my slave back his body to destroy my enemies with._

"No!" Brittney screamed, her mind flooding the intruder with images of her baby brother Tanner; firing practice with Edilio; Sam smiling at her, congratulating her for a job well done; God speaking through Tanner, telling her to destroy the monster. This was what she usually did when the monster in her head was fighting to be free. Usually the Gaiaphage never interfered. It was usually the demon who attacked her. And Brittney could hold off the demon. But for the first time in forever the Darkness fought back. Images of the coyotes bounced painfully in her head. Caine smirking and Drake snapping his whip over her head. She froze, hate boiling in her mind.

_You can finally complete your goal, girl._ Caine's smirking face filled her head again. _You can finally defeat him and please your little brother. Was he not the one who sent the coyotes? Was he not the one who told Drake to kill you?_ Tanner now appeared in her mind. He was pleading with her with big, sorrowful eyes. _Allow Whiphand to come to me!_ Brittney hesitated then looked at her deceased brother's too wide eyes. They were the same shade as hers—not the light blue they should have been. The Darkness had been unable to pull an accurate picture. This fueled the girl and reminded her of her new mission.

"No!" she screamed again. Her purpose now was to keep others safe from the monster that lived in her body. Not redeem her brother's death. She was surprised that she could hold off such a monster by herself. The girl was comforted by the fact that other holy forces must've been by her side constantly.

The voice in her head was colder than it had ever been. Before it was indifferent and slightly commanding. Now it was on the borderline of painful. The white light that had given her the strength to hold off the Gaiaphage suddenly started to wane. Brittney could now feel the Darkness tearing down her willpower and the horrible monster Drake coming through.

"No!" she screamed for the third time, trying to hold in the demon. Her vision flashed and her right hand grew longer and more whip-like. And then the power Little Pete had given her to hold back the demon, the strength she thought her angelic brother gave her, vanished completely. With one last horrible scream, whip replaced hand and Brittney's dirt flecked braces disappeared for the final time. In her place was a dark eyed, grinning sadist who flicked his whip back continuously, clearing enjoying the missed feeling.

_Come to me._

Drake grinned again. He was happy to oblige.

* * *

Howard quickly glanced down at his watch. Though the real time was clearly out of whack within the FAYZ with the power being disabled, Computer was able to rig up new time system which they ingeniously called FAYZtime. Surprisingly it was not Howard who came up with the name. A few special members of the town were expected to have the FAYZtime not only for scheduling meetings with the council but to also show status. With a shortage in digital times and batteries, all other extra watch batteries were confiscated to be put in the battery treasury. The entire council, Lana, Ellen, John Terrafino, and a few special others were expected to always have their watch with them. Howard scratched absentmindedly at his personal time teller. He had had this watch ever since the beginning of the FAYZ. Stole it off of some poor kid who crossed Captain Orc before Sammy and his brother retook Perdido Beach. He hadn't wanted the watch then and he didn't want it now. The only reason he took it a year ago was to prove he wasn't to be messed with and deserved to be followed. Now, because of what Sam and the others had worked out, he wished for the exact opposite. To be left alone for once without worrying about keeping up a perfect 'image.' Sometimes being compared to the other members of the council made Howard felt so…crooked. He didn't mind really, but it made him look bad compared to Holy Genius Astrid, Super Sammy, or Edilio.

But both good and bad had come from the new rule at Perdido Beach, the boy noted. Howard wasn't sure if Orc and he could have really lasted being the only two leaders of the FAYZ. For once, Howard was grateful for Astrid the Genius to have come up with a plan. Not only was he still in power, but the weight of the town wasn't all on him. Howard stared sourly at the watch. Not as much good had come from the monster on his wrist. With few watches left, the boy had to usually conceal the watch in a pocket. He had lost count the number of times a person would come up to ask for the time. It wasn't as if the kids wanted to know what time it was. There was no place for time in the FAYZ. Only the leaders had to worry about FAYZtime. To the citizens of Perdido Beach, seeing a watch meant that a leader was near them. Howard didn't exactly feel like a leader compared to Sam or Edilio. Being slightly crooked made Howard feel like the bad guy despite his sudden change of heart. He wasn't the bad guy when monsters like Drake and Caine were out there. It almost hurt him to be in the same league with psychopaths like Whiphand.

Howard checked the time again and suppressed a good natured groan. Speak of the devil himself. He had to check on the freak Britnadrake. He had come up with that name. Howard paused and instantly revised his sentence. There was a new meaning to freaks and Britnadrake wasn't one of them. Sam was a freak. Lana was a freak. Caine was a freak. Some could even go as far to say Orc was a freak. Britnadrake was just…scary. Howard smirked. That was definitely the way he would describe the creature in his basement. But still, there was nothing else exciting going on and as long as Howard kept doing this favor for Sammy, he was in the plus side of life. Sammy himself was off fighting his brother _again_. Howard didn't know what was up between the two. Maybe it was something that had happened when they were younger…a broken toy or more attention from parents. All he knew and cared about was he was back on the council and he was respected. Even Astrid the Genius could stand to be in the same room as him and usually keep a civil tongue. Howard suppressed a laugh. Life was good albeit a bit challenging. _It's just a FAYZ_, he echoed in his head.

The halfway clean council member stopped in front of his new house with a shudder. He suddenly remembered what he was doing. Doing favors for others? Was he possibly growing a soft bone? In the FAYZ? He shook his head and smirked to himself. That would be like suicide in the world of the FAYZ. "Orc? Hey, Orcman! Are you there?" Howard laughed and slipped inside the house. He glanced around quickly and noticed he was alone. After being in the house for less than a week, beer cans already littered the floor. The best friend of Orc sighed softly. _What is my right-hand man turning into? _Howard nodded blankly towards the bright SammySun and headed straight towards the basement. He pressed his ear against the door and smirked. The girl was there but barely. It sounded like she was going to switch over to Drake anytime. Howard quickly shoved the key into the door and pulled open the door. It didn't occur to him that the armoire that Orc usually kept slammed against the door was missing until Howard was at the bottom of the steps. The smirk on Howard's face slowly slipped off.

"Hey Howard," a cool voice said. Howard took an involuntary step back. _Drake's trapped…he can't get out,_ the boy reminded himself frantically. Still it wouldn't hurt to be cautious. "Here to free me?" the cool voice purred. Howard shuddered and was almost up the steps before something caught his foot. He wasn't sure if he had tripped or if Drake had used his whip. Regardless, the stumble caused the boy to come crashing back down the steps. "That rock creature usually does this," Drake continued in an insanely soft voice.

Hardly anything scared Howard. Mary did that one time but that was because she was just so tall… And Sam sometimes scared Howard but only when he went all laser-hands. Apart from a few things, Howard had never really known true fear. He had always had his Orcman with him to keep him from extreme danger. That was just the way things were—Orc was the muscle and he was the brain. But now Howard was alone against a psychotic and furious Drake. And Howard was finally realizing that he was terrified. He now knew why only Orc could do this job. The Orcman was practically indestructible whereas Howard was not. Orc was a rock while Howard was very fleshy and soft. He struggled to his feet and tried to smirk.

"You can't get out, Drake," Howard taunted, warily watching his ankles.

"You bet?" Drake's voice rose to a loud growl and his whip shot through the cracks of the cage. Howard was shocked that the sadist could do that. He was fairly sure the whip wasn't that thin. That was all the boy got to think before the snake-like whip snapped around the smaller boy's waist. Howard felt himself being lifted into the air before being slammed into the wooden barrier. The council member was fairly sure that he had shattered a few ribs on the impact. He was barely awake to feel himself hit the barrier two more times before it suddenly exploded. Wood shattered everywhere and Howard felt himself being thrown aside like a rag doll. He groaned weakly and tried to inch away from Drake. The sadistic demon caught the boy and dragged him by the ankle back to his feet.

"What do I win?" Drake muttered darkly, eyes lighting up with a malicious light. "I got out, didn't I? What's my prize?" His whip slipped off of Howard's foot and snapped by Drake's ear.

"A nice welcoming gift from Sammy!" growled Howard, blinking away tears. He could barely keep himself awake now.

Drake laughed. His whip whistled as it came down and hit Howard with a loud crack. The boy screamed and jerked suddenly. Drake bent down to talk to the injured boy. "I don't think your hero Sammy is going to be coming back to Perdido Beach." He kicked Howard in the bruised ribs. "I'll just leave you here for whoever finds you." The boy sounded almost disappointed. "I really wanted to kill you though." He mimicked Howard's trademark smirk pretty accurately before disappearing.

The last kick Drake had given him had sent Howard into unconsciousness. Before the boy completely lost his senses, he had done something he had never done before.

Howard prayed.

* * *

Ray shuffled down the street, wondering where he could possible find a surfer dude, a solemn and cruel boy, and a Mexican. Pilot Springs was somewhere north of Pennsylvania which took out a big chunk of the Hispanic population and over 300 miles away from the nearest ocean which also took out the surfer dude. The EAC figured the person he had the best chance of finding was the solemn and cruel boy Nerezza had mentioned. Raynold glanced to his right and shook his head. Only scared children were on this street. Through Brian was trying his hardest to keep the town in order, the disappearance of the adults were just too much for some kids to handle. Ray kept looking, hoping he'd be able to find someone to fit Nerezza's descriptions. His birthday was coming fast—still only four days away. If he couldn't find any of the three soon, he wouldn't get the chance to even test out his powers anymore. Loud screams tore Ray from his thoughts. Before this new bubble thing happened, Ray would have just either tried another path or found the closet adult and tell them something was wrong. Now he couldn't do the latter because there were no adults. Raynold sighed. _He_ couldn't do the former either. Because of being Emergency Action Chief, it was his duty to keep the peace. _Whoever came up with the stupid thing in the first place? _He muttered in his head. Grumbling unmentionable things about Nerezza, Brian and the whole circumstance that led him to be EAC, Ray went to go check out what was happening. The panicking kids fleeing from the site didn't make him feel anymore confident. He stopped dead on his feet when he saw the reason for the fuss.

In front of Ray was a boy about his age with very dirty sandy blonde hair who seemed to be having a one-sided conversation with a frozen six-year-old. The older boy's eyes were dead and blank but somewhere a touch of something sparked. Ray couldn't exactly place what was in the boy's eyes but if he had to guess, it would be insane hate. He had never seen this older boy before and he definitely looked like bad news. Ray shuddered and tried to see what was causing the rest of the commotion. Wrapped around the waist of the poor younger child was something almost snakelike. The only other way Ray could describe it was a whip. The whip wrapped twice around the trapped kid's torso and seemed to merge with the boy's right arm. The fact that Ray was unable to specifically describe this new boy more than once was making him uneasy. And the fact that the whip tip was twitching only added to the boy's twisting feeling. All in all, he felt like he was soon going to lose his pitiful lunch. Ray could briefly hear the monster growl 'Where are they?' to the terrified kid. This was too much for Raynold. Something had to be done about this new guy. Ray just really wished it didn't have to be him that had to put an end to it.

"Put the child down!" Ray demanded in a much deeper voice than he thought he possessed.

The boy turned around lazily and the whip slid off of the kid. The young child slipped to the ground, threw Ray a tear-filled look and scampered off. "You made me lose my victim," remarked the whip monster, turning towards Ray. "But I guess you'll have to do." The reddish purple whip snapped dangerously close to Raynold's ear. He tried to hold back a flinch. Ray quickly concluded that this was the cruel boy Nerezza wanted. He had seen no other human being like him. Not even in movies. Cruel was an understatement.

"By the order of the Emergency Action Chief, you are under arrest!" Ray said again, trying to sound powerful.

The monster grinned a shark-like grin. "And who is this EAC then?"

Ray blinked. He was pretty sure he and the citizens of Pilot Spring were the only people to know about an EAC. Maybe he just used an abbreviation. "Well… I am the EAC," Raynold said, feeling kind of pathetic. He felt his ears burn slightly.

Dry laughter exploded from the boy. "Ha, so you're this town's Temple, basically?"

"Temple?" Ray repeated. "I'm not a priest if that's what you mean… I'm Methodist actually…"

The boy rolled his eyes. "That wasn't what I meant, moron. Sam Temple was this surfer kid who thought he could take over Perdido Beach and now it seems he's comin' over here too." Ray suppressed a gasp. He had gotten two valuable pieces of information from that one sentence. Not only were there people in Perdido Beach still and this monster had come from there—this made Ray a little _more_ nervous as he thought about radiation that was now seeping into _his_ town—but it was also possible that the surfer dude existed. All he needed was the Mexican and hello, his butt.

"Is this Sam Temple coming here?"

"You worried about your job?" smirked the whip creature. "Temple won't last long." The boy's whip snapped. "I'll make sure of that. By the way, the name is Drake," the shark grin was back. "Or you can call me Whiphand," he added gleefully, flicking his whip back and forth.

Ray licked his lips and nodded. "Well, Drake, by order of the EAC you are _still _under arrest for disturbing of the peace and being needed by someone else…" Ray finished weakly. He didn't think he needed to work on his arrest speeches due to his birthday coming up, but now it was painfully obvious he did. It wasn't as easy as it had seemed in the movies.

Drake laughed again. "_You_ think _you_ can take me down? Laser hands couldn't. Soren couldn't. And don't get me started on the wetback." The whip shot out towards Raynold.

Raynold closed his eyes, expecting to feel a lash of pain across his face. He wasn't expecting to hear furious grunting from Drake. The boy slowly opened his eyes and giggled weakly. Drake was trapped under feet of rope and chains. Ray felt something cool slip into his hands. He glanced down to see the latest machine gun, all full of bullets. He blinked at it for a few moments before desperately grabbing the situation. It was his turn to smirk now.

"Drake, you are under arrest." Ray said with a cool expression. Inside he was screaming his heart out, giddy with the feeling that he had some power in this awful hellhole.

The trapped boy's eyes went wide as he stared at Ray. "You're a freak!" he half snarled, half whispered. His gaze lowered to the gun Raynold was holding. "Nice gun though…haven't seen that one yet…" He looked back at Ray. "Mind if I try it out sometime?" the boy's blank eyes suddenly flashed menacingly. He tried to smile in a friendly way, but the Gaiaphage's pawn only looked scarier.

Ray frowned. _That wasn't too nice…I don't think I'm that weird._ He grabbed Drake's shoulder and hauled him back to Nerezza. _And that gun bit was creepy. Note to self: Don't let 'Whiphand' near any artillery._

* * *

**I felt so sorry for Howard. Poor thing :( Anyway, thanks to all of you guys out there reading this. And don't forget to check out the poll for some story options :)**

_**Kate of Carlay - **_**Thanks for the review! I'll admit, Brian is kind of unrealistic. You'll see why later. I think it'll be a nice surprise. :)**


	11. The Game Begins Part I

**Disclaimer: **Plague is pretty awesome. I'd suggest you guys go read it. Wait... Maybe since I'm advertising for Mr. Grant, he'll lemme have the Gone series. Please please please, Mr. Grant! No? All right then. They still belong to Michael Grant.  
**Time Frame: **Post-Lies as if Plague hasn't existed yet.  
**Author's Note: **Here we are, chapter 5? Yeah. This one will be pretty long but FINALLY the story starts. Yeah, 35,000 words later and we still haven't gotten anywhere until now. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

One minute there was no one in front of her. The next thing the girl knew was a very dazed and rather cute boy was sprawled on the ground in front of her. She blinked and blushed slightly. She was just out picking berries for her baby brother and now she had company.

"Hey, sweet thing," she giggled. The boy jerked suddenly to his feet. He stared at her with wild but very nice eyes. She smiled and giggled again. "You must be new." The girl didn't care that this new kid seemed to be several years older than she. He was _adorable_. Almost looked like her brother's friend before they disappeared. Before almost everyone disappeared.

He nodded slowly and turned away. "I have to, uh, go…" he murmured in a soft voice. The girl smiled and waved.

"See ya 'round soon!" she called after the boy. She laughed and shook her head. Must've been one of the ones who took the disappearance of all the adults the hardest. Luckily she wasn't affected by the blink out as much as the others. Still, he was pretty cute. The girl wouldn't mind if she bumped into the guy again.

* * *

Weird was an understatement for what was going on. Even the term understatement was a bit of an understatement. Sam scratched the back of his neck and tried to make sense of what happened. All he remembered was that fight with Caine—_Good grief! I still don't believe that happened—_before passing out. The few seconds before passing out he remembered feeling vaguely exhausted and…in pain. Sam rubbed at his temples. It was a searing pain right in his mind before he blacked out. Falling into unconsciousness felt like something pulled a shroud over his entire body and mind. _Something or someone, _Sam noted, thinking of how L.P. had stared at him before. He just assumed that Petey had transported him away from the danger. But when that strangely perky girl a little short of attacked him, he knew he wasn't in Perdido Beach anymore. Perky had been his first tip off. _No one_ was excited in the FAYZ without a good reason. Then the fact that he hadn't recognized her made his skin crawl. He shivered and rubbed his bare arms. He was pretty far from Perdido Beach. Back in California, it had been mid September but rather warm. In this new place, the air was unnaturally cool. He briefly wondered if he was dead. And then maybe Orsay was right and death got you out of the FAYZ. He opened and closed a fist. He didn't _feel _dead. Sam sighed and looked around. He was just probably…somewhere else. The next question after the obvious 'Where am I?' was 'Is this like the FAYZ?'. Usually the boy wouldn't have questioned it, just happily accepting that he was away from Perdido Beach. But now he wasn't as grateful as he should have been. He was about to go after the other girl when his twin appeared right in front of him.

"What…?" was all Caine got out before Edilio almost landed on top of them. Sam and Caine narrowly leapt out of the way as the Honduran materialized right where Caine and Sam were standing not a minute ago.

"_Dios Mio_!" breathed the last one to join the party. Sam nodded slightly while Caine backed away from the spot. He waited, wondering if Sam's brainiac girlfriend would show up or if Brianna or Dekka would appear. He stretched his fingers just in case. The others obviously had the same idea since they too stepped back and watched, Sam's gaze constantly flitting back to his brother just in case. After five minutes of nothing, Sam sighed and stepped back to where he had been. Edilio reached towards the sky then held his back. His gun had traveled with him. He slid it into the case around his hip. Caine let out a cross between a moan and a sigh and flopped to the ground. Things weren't going as planned. He wasn't dead yet.

"What is this?" asked Sam, glancing over at Edilio.

The Honduran shrugged. "I have no clue, man. But I don't think anyone else is coming to join us."

"Lucky them…" Caine muttered, rolling his eyes. Still, the boy was intrigued by the entire situation. He might possibly have the chance for a new start. It would take some work. A lot of work but Caine felt like he could re—

"I don't think so either." Sam rubbed at his skin again. Goosebumps were steadily rising on his forearms. "D'you think that there's another wall like the FAYZ wall here? Do you think we are in a type of FAYZ?"

Edilio frowned. "I hope not. If there was, then that'd me—"

"That would mean the Gaiaphage survived." Caine shuddered, his eyes suddenly growing large. The whites in his eyes seemed to glow around the faded brown iris. "Impossible though, right? Goose took care of him."

Sam exchanged glances with Edilio. Apparently no one had told Caine about Nerezza and Drake. Neither of them wanted to break the news either. "Yeah or there could be someone like Little Pete to blast us back to Perdido Beach." Sam said slowly, wondering if he really wanted to go back to the FAYZ.

"The Genius's stupid brother?" Caine asked, tilting his head. He knew the boy might've had some power...but enough to throw them out of the FAYZ? Maybe the rumors were true about the kid being higher than a four bar.

Edilio nodded slowly as well. "But how do we know that this place has a wall like Perdido Beach did?" He glanced up then back at the other two.

Caine felt a snarl grow on his face. "Let me throw you as far as I can and then we can see if you hit a wall."

Edilio held out his hands. "Cool it, man. We outnumber you two to one."

"Thanks for the math help."

Sam groaned and pinched at his nose. "Why don't we head for the nearest town and find out what happened and where we are? Maybe get some food."

The two bickering boys glanced at each other and nodded slowly. "I guess," Edilio said. Sam smiled brightly at the two and led the way to where he thought was civilization.

* * *

"I cannot believe we let the idiot who's scared of the dark lead us to a town."

Sam glanced sharply over at his brother. "I'm going the right way and I'm not scared of the dark." _At least not anymore…_

Caine rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he muttered. The boy gnawed on his thumb and stopped suddenly. He had sounded exactly like Diana there for a minute. Would he ever see his short-haired witch again? Caine pulled his thumb away. _It's not like it really matters now. _If his original plan had worked, he wouldn't have seen her again anyway. He adjusted the collar on his shirt and lurched forward with odd steps.

Edilio and Sam watched him with mixed expressions on. Sam looked concerned while Edilio just looked confused. "Are you okay…?" Sam asked, eyebrows raised.

Caine glared at his brother. "I'm fine. I'm leading." He snapped. The usually calm and confident boy stalked away, temper barely contained.

Sam and Edilio swapped gazes again and followed after the stewing telekinetic. They were debating whether or not telling Caine they were going back to where they started would get them thrown into a wall.

In the end, it was the Honduran who got the wandering group to civilization. After trekkifng through woods and fields for about two hours, the three collapsed by some blackberry bushes. The berries were tart and very buggy but they ate the entire patch. There were no more berries at Perdido Beach. Sam warily watched as Caine began to twist his fingers and various trees began to quiver. He cleared his throat and looked around pointedly.

Edilio got the hint. "Time to go!" he said, jumping up to his feet. He stretched quickly before heading off. "My turn to lead," he told Sam and Caine. Sam only nodded weakly while Caine pretended not to hear him. In under an hour, Edilio had brought them to the edge of a medium sized town. It was bigger than Perdido Beach but it sounded emptier.

"Let the wetback show you where people are. Because we are such good navigators," he muttered under his breath sarcastically. The other two looked blankly at him. "Y'know, crossin' the border and all…? Where is Quinn with his jokes when you need him?"

Sam almost responded but his eyes caught onto something glowing. "Look!" he whispered, pointing at it. It was a glowing and buzzing wall. They were trapped in just another prison.

Edilio saw it and sighed. "It's just a FAYZ," he shook his head and turned back to town. "Should we go on and see what happened?"

Sam nodded once and the three stumbled into Pilot Spring. Edilio made sure to hide his gun from view. He didn't want anybody there to start freaking out. They probably were frazzled enough.

* * *

A few kids were checking houses for food when the three strangers wandered into town. All three gave of vibes which caused the group to gravitate towards them. The boy in the middle was tall and tan and looked like a classic Hollister model. He had the skater boy hair and the surfer looks from some beach. Without really knowing why, many of the kids felt that he shone with leadership and a somewhat high level of confidence. A few of the gazes drifted towards the shadow of a boy in the back. He too possessed some looks except his were buried behind the thin skin and gaunt eyes. _Like models after spending too much time in Hollywood_, one particularly witty person had thought. This tired boy also reeked of leadership except his was more drained—again as if it had already passed. Then all the eyes slowly turned to the Hispanic boy beside the surfer who had just finished tucking something away. Pilot Spring was a very northern town. Not many people from Latin America came to visit. To see this boy in Pilot Spring was a sure sign that these three weren't from another town or from another county. It was a dead give away they were from somewhere far away. The group watched the three boys for a while before surrounding the group. The Mexican and the surfer looked like they were about to panic while the shadow boy just kept his gaze on the ground.

"Who are you?" asked the surfer in a surprisingly steady voice. It didn't match the darting look in his eyes.

"Where are we?" added the Mexican in a voice slightly tinged with a Spanish accent. A few of the kids blinked at him, never hearing an authentic Spanish accent that wasn't on a movie screen before in their life.

"Hey, Alejandro! Are you lost? Mexico's a couple hundred miles away." A boy's voice shouted from somewhere in the crowd. This earned a few snickers.

"Great, a Quinn." The Hispanic boy exchanged glances with the surfer. "Was that directed to me?"

The surfer shrugged. "It sounded like it was."

"I hope it wasn't an insult," the 'Mexican' almost growled, looking back at the crowd.

"It wasn't…at least I don't think he meant it to be." one particularly brave girl said. She took a step toward the boy and placed a hand on his tensed arm. "I _love_ foreign boys. Tell me Mexxy," she stroked his arm with thin fingers. "Where'd you get such muscles?" He jerked his arm away and was shocked into silence. The girl was not fazed by his attempts to escape. She tried again to get cozy. "Will you talk in your accent for me again, Mexxy? You're a sexy Mexxy," she giggled in a slurry voice.

Edilio's eyes widened so that the whites were easy to see. He pushed away the twelve year old once more and she finally seemed to get the hint. He took several steps back and almost ran into Caine. Sam made weird choking noises that almost sounded like laughter. Even Caine looked slightly amused with the ghost of a smirk playing on his face. Edilio's face took on the hue of a cabbage farmer—Perdido Beach didn't have sunscreen. "I…I don't understand," he said in a garbling tone. "What do you mean?" he asked, completely flabbergasted. He rubbed at his burning neck. "What's a Mexxy?"

"_Mexico. _Duh! 'Cause you're from there, silly!" The girl crossed her arms and put on a pouty expression. "What's your problem? I was just _flirting_!" The three from Perdido Beach exchanged glances. With problems such as starvation and Drake, there wasn't much time for shallow flirtation. "God, did you escape from a nunnery or something?" She looked annoyed and kept flicked her tongue.

"Where the heck _have_ you guys been?" asked another kid, peering at them suspiciously.

"You have no idea…" murmured Sam, glancing around at all the faces. He still didn't know where _he_ was the past year let alone know where he had appeared. If this was what the real world was like, he wasn't sure he wanted to know where he and his comrades were.

"Are you aliens?" another asked, poking at Edilio. The Honduran jerked away from the crowd now turning mob and scooted closer to Sam. "Did you guys come from another planet?"

Caine smirked at the group. "You can say something like that." He muttered, staring at each kid. _Could they possibly have powers?_ He was now starting to feel uncomfortable with the stares the group was giving them. It reminded the boy of the stupid 'Human Crew' back in Perdido Beach. He was slightly worried to see the mob close tighter around his trio.

The kids' mouths and eyes grew to impossible proportions. "Aliens!" the youngest in the group whispered. Sam shot a Caine a withering glare which the boy ignored.

One of the guys stepped forward. He was acting like the unofficial leader of the group. "What are your names?" he demanded.

"Sam Temple," Sam said, smiling slightly at the group.

Caine scowled. "Caine," was all he said. He didn't want the others knowing his last name. Sam looked oddly at him. _It's not like they're going to know who you are, Caine. As much as you'd like to think, not everyone knows who you are and not everyone worships you._

Edilio had finally seemed to recover from his previous embarrassment and opened his mouth. The girl who had a little less than attacked him before stopped him again.

"I wanna guess!" she said in a giggly voice. Edilio closed his mouth and threw desperate looks to Sam. The previous mayor of Perdido Beach shrugged and Edilio turned painfully back to the girl.

Her face was the epitome of pure concentration. She tilted her head and made overdramatic 'hmm' noises. Finally she and a few others burst into a stream of Hispanic sounding names.

"Fernando!"

"Roberto."

"Antonio…?"

Edilio shook his head furiously. "No! My name is—"

"Shush! Don't tell us yet!" The girl giggled again, thinking this was the most brilliant game ever created.

"Carlos."

"Chico!"

"Diego?"

"Fabian!"

"Have we got it yet?" the girl asked.

Edilio blushed again. "No. It's—"

He was interrupted by the thickest response the Honduran had ever thought he had heard. "Is it Taco?" asked the youngest with very loud giggles. This quite stupid name caused many more laughs from the entire mob. Edilio's face grew red than flashed to a blank expression. This was almost as annoying as being in the same room as Quinn for too long.

"It's Edilio!" Sam burst out angrily. He didn't think screaming out names was going to help them out anymore and Edilio was looking miserable.

"Finally, we have a winner," muttered Caine, completely unaware that it was his twin who had shouted out the right name. He was too busy plotting to really pay attention. Could he make a new place for himself in this new world? A life without Diana? As far as she cared, he was already dead.

The girl who had led the contest frowned again. "Why'd you have to spoil our fun?" She pouted again, showing big eyes surrounded by way to much mascara. _It seems, _Sam mused, _this girl can only cry and try to seduce. I wonder if she can do anything else._

Sam sighed. "I'm sorry. We have to, uh, go." He stepped backwards.

"Yeah, Temple, Mexxy, and I all gotta run." Caine muttered again, stepping backwards with his twin. Edilio quickly followed. They were out of the mob but not quick enough to hear more Hispanic names float around. Even though Edilio was gone, they still were deciding what his name was.

"Javier!"

"Mario!"

"No, you idiot! That's Italian! You know, the plumber?"

"Burrito!" Loud giggles erupted from this one. It now sounded like someone was screaming off the menu at a Spanish restaurant.

The Perdido Beach three had gotten a good distance from the mob by then. Sam glanced at Edilio. "The people here certainly are more..." he struggled for a word. "Um, _provocative_ than those at Perdido Beach."

Edilio glanced up towards the top of the FAYZ-like barrier. "_Dios Mio…_" he murmured. _These poor people are already going insane._

* * *

**So, who else thinks Edilio and Caine are too out of character? I do. Sorry about that but they are so much fun to write when they argue. It just hit me that the females in Pilot Springs have a lot of suggestive motives o.O. Whoops. I had some comedy before things get more serious.**

_**HungryInTheDarkForNachosLOL **_**- Can I just say I love the new username? Thanks for the review. The whole confusing thing about 'cruel' boy and Drake was a plot hole I missed. I couldn't think of any description for Caine other than that...then I realized Drake was the exact same. I guess I should say that Ray's looking for Caine too.  
_toolazytologin _- Aww! Thank you so much for your review! I just adore it when people say they love my story and when they match it with comparing it to Michael Grant's writing style, it just makes my day. **


	12. The Game Begins Part II

**Disclaimer: **The Gone Series belongs to Michael Grant.  
**Time Frame: **Post-Lies as if Plague hasn't existed yet.  
**Author's Note: **I just have the feeling that this story is going on and on with no purpose. But it'll have to ramble on more 'cause I wanna have the longest Gone story in fanfiction. Think I can do it? Only your support can get me there :)

* * *

Raynold dragged Drake through the streets of Pilot Spring, cursing the entire way. It wasn't as if the sadist was much trouble. Quite the opposite. For one of the first times in his life, the visitor did as he was told. He followed along complacently; he knew who he was going to see and Drake was almost happier than the time he had held his first gun. He stared dreamily at the gun Ray had pointed at him and reminisced on the memory.

But the problem Ray had with his prisoner was the looks everyone else gave him. Few people really knew Raynold and fewer actually knew what he was doing. All they saw was him—their new Emergency Action Chief—towing a boy bound in feet of rope and at gunpoint back to the hospital. The mob who had met up with the trio from Perdido Beach had passed Ray and his prisoner with wide-eyed looks. Instantly the chatter changed from chimichangas to aliens. Ray shook his head as he hurried Drake away. People were becoming lunatics when this new wall thing came down on them. Ray had even questioned his own sanity for a few brief moments when he saw Drake's whip. Soon the boy had pulled 'Whiphand' to the hospital and to the room where Nerezza said she would be in. It was empty apart from a small boy sleeping on the gurney. Raynold stared at him and realized with a jolt that it was the kid they had pulled from the ruins of the front door at the mental hospital. Raynold glanced guiltily at his left leg—rather lack of leg. He somehow felt that if only he had gotten to the boy sooner, he wouldn't have had to have it amputated. Ray sighed and shoved Drake away. Instantly the ropes fell apart. Ray still held the machine gun and waved it threateningly at Drake. The dirty haired boy smirked at the younger boy's leg and turned back to Raynold. _The idiot doesn't even have the safety off._

"You know, brilliant_ EAC_, the gun is on safety. It won't shoot." He laughed at Ray's flustered appearance.

"I knew that!" retorted Raynold, trying to look like he had everything under control. "I didn't want you to be alarmed. I…I have more than enough ways to keep you following my instructions!"

Drake was about to say something else when Nerezza entered the room. Ray instantly looked relieved.

"I brought the 'cruel and solemn' boy as you wanted," Raynold said, trying to hold off his smile.

Nerezza's eyes grew darker as she glanced at Drake. Drake stiffened. "Master," he murmured softly.

"Drake," the girl sniffed. She turned to Ray. "This isn't the one I need." Her voice was cold. Ray lowered his eyes. "But thank you for bringing him to me. His sadistic nature would have forced him to harm unimportant people which would ruin our entire plan." Drake's expression was a mix between a hard scowl and a gleeful smirk. "You two will now look for the three. Whiphand knows who it is we need."

Ray nodded slowly. Was Nerezza seriously suggesting that he and this sadistic freak should work together? The boy was pretty sure that one of them wouldn't make it out alive. Ray caught the dangerous glint in the sandy haired boy's eyes. A sick feeling in his stomach told Ray that he would probably be the one who wouldn't make it.

The whip that served at Drake's arm cracked. "I won't be able to decide who to kill first! Temple, Soren, or the wetback." The gleeful smile lit his face again.

Raynold spun around to face Nerezza. _Kill…?_

Nerezza scowled. "Do not kill them, Whiphand." Ray breathed out in relief. He couldn't _kill_ anybody. "I want you two to bring them to me. I wish to finish them myself," she growled. "They have all caused too much trouble to be dispatched lightly. They must suffer."

Ray felt a bubble of panic rise up in his chest. "What do you mean? You can't _kill_ people! That's like…not nice." he said, eyes wide.

Drake cackled at the boy's expression. "Aww, is our little EAC scared of spilling a little blood?" he cooed sarcastically.

Nerezza fixed Ray with a cool expression. "Killing them is the only way that can save you from the blink out on your birthday."

"Wait… He doesn't know how to get out of the poof? How old is thi—" One withering glare from Nerezza caused Drake to shut up.

Ray hesitated. His birthday was still in four days. He wanted desperately not to disappear. He didn't want to die. But to kill three seemingly innocent people to survive? Ray frowned. "_I_ don't want to kill them," he said again, this time more firmly.

Nerezza sighed. "_Fine_," she hissed, sounding very exasperated. "You catch them and Whiphand and I will kill them. Bring them to me and you are through…for the moment."

Ray frowned. It still wasn't a good deal….but he wanted to live so badly. The producer sighed. What could he do? Nerezza had him trapped. "Fine. I'll do it."

* * *

Sam and the others crossed into town with few other problems. A couple people stopped them, asking where they were from. Caine stepped in and told them that they were visiting cousins. The boy even made up names of his group and the fabled cousins they were setting out to see. Slowly, Sam noted, his brother's charismatic charm was coming back. They weren't exactly best friends yet but Caine was learning how to tolerate the townies and vice versa. 'Friendly acquaintances who could possibly last an hour in the same room without all the furniture being "Drakified"' was how they put it. The Coates leader had to remind Sam and Edilio many times that once they got back to the real FAYZ they would go back to being enemies. Sam just smiled; he was very relieved his brother's thoughts weren't suicidal anymore. Edilio rolled his eyes. He thought Caine's being friendly was a scam and couldn't wait until things were right again. After seeing no signs on _where_ they were, Sam decided to ask a random pair of kids.

"Hello, excuse me," Sam asked in a somewhat timid voice. "I'm sorry but we are a bit lost. We were coming to visit our cousins when suddenly our parents disappeared." Sam's eyes went wide and frightened. "It was awful and we ran into a tree!" His voice shuddered slightly.

The boy in the group looked a bit frightened at the three. He was young—about L.P.'s age. His older sister smiled at them. "It's okay. Everyone older than 15 disappeared a day or two ago. We think they are on the other side somewhere. Well, that's what I'm kinda hoping. I work with the hospital but this is my free break." Sam smiled hesitantly at her. "But I don't care about that. If you need it, I can get you to a hospital—you three look really beat up."

"We're fine," Sam said hastily. "We just need to know where we are. And then we'll leave you to your free day."

The girl shook her head and tutted almost motherly. "I gotta go check up on something back at the hospital anyway. A kid who was in the same exact circumstance as you. Runaway cars, they're a killer." She looked at the three suspiciously. "You two look okay," she said pointing to Sam and Edilio, "but your brother…not so much. Why don't you guys come with me? I can get you on your way after a quick fix up. He is your brother, right…?" She asked, eyes darting from Sam to Edilio. It wasn't hard to pick out who she was asking.

Sam nodded slightly. "Yeah. He's mine. He was sitting in the front passenger seat because, you know, him being older and all." He purposely avoided Caine's eye while adding a dramatic pout. He didn't want to see that amused glint in his brother's eye he knew must've been there.

Edilio spoke up for the first time. "I think it would be a good thing to visit the hospital," he added brightly. "Caine here has been complaining about a sore arm the entire time up here." He rolled his eyes in mock annoyance.

"I have?" Caine muttered. Edilio stepped on his foot hard. Caine jumped and held his right arm. "Yeah, it must've banged against the wheel…"

The girl gave him an odd look. "Um, okay… Well, I'm Mina," she said holding out her hand. Sam, Edilio, and Caine all shook it; the latter's being a bit awkward due to his 'sore arm.'

"I'm Sam," Sam said smiling brightly again.

"Edilio," the Honduran added with a grin.

Caine didn't look as if he wanted to answer so Sam answered for him. "As you've probably figured out, this scowling one is my brother Caine."

Mina smiled again at the three. "Nice to meet you. We rarely get visitors here. I'll be right back. Have to take my brother back home. Stay right here and I'll be back in a few minutes." She led her brother away and threw a backwards wave in their direction.

"Well, she was friendly." Sam said after a moment's silence.

Caine turned to face Edilio, a scowl on his face. "My sore arm?"

The Honduran shrugged. "You kinda messed it up there, man, with the 'right against the wheel.' Think about it for a moment." He pantomimed hitting his right arm on something invisible on the opposite side of his body. It looked very painful and very difficult from the way the boy portrayed it.

"It doesn't have to be that complicated," Caine bristled, eyes narrowed.

Sam decided to break in before the argument got messier. "I can't believe this town has a _hospital_. Imagine how much easier life at the Perdido Beach would be with a hospital!"

"That would be very nice. Especially before we had Lana. Before all we had was Dahra and that book." Edilio added.

Caine frowned. "Some of us never had the privilege of having either." He said flatly.

"Can we change the subject…again?" Sam asked all of a sudden, steering away from another potentially dangerous topic.

Edilio nodded, a teasing grin on his face. "Nice acting, Sam. Maybe you should make that your new job."

"Yeah, we hit a tree 'cause jeepers our parents disappeared!" Caine rolled his eyes again. Still, he was feeling a bit pleased about being the elder of the twins at the moment. He hadn't forgotten what Sam had told the girl and he decided to burn that conversation into his memory.

Sam ignored Caine and turned to Edilio. "I can't believe she bought it."

"They just have to trust everyone they meet in this strange new world. I know we did," Edilio said, casting a dirty look to Caine. "Turn's out it was a big mistake. We should keep that in mind."

Caine was about to say something scathing when Mina appeared again. "Come on," she called, grabbing Sam's arm and pulling them down the street. After a few moments, they could see the large building of Pilot Spring Hospital.

"This is Pilot Spring," Sam hissed to Edilio who nodded.

"Doesn't exactly help unless we know where Pilot Springs is." Edilio whispered back. Sam felt it would sound like a dumb question to ask Mina after he told her they were here to visit cousins. Surely a person would know what state or county their cousins lived in. The three had to depend on seeing a sign somewhere.

They came in through the automatic doors in the front and Mina led them down a clean hallway. "This is for the kids who have no home to go," she explained.

"You should have something like this for prees." Sam told her without thinking. She stopped and looked at him oddly.

"The what?"

Sam went red, realizing he had spoken that out loud. "Prees is slang for really young kids from where we come from. I guess it'd be good to take care of them and get them in one place because I doubt they could take care of themselves." Sam said in a forced ignorant tone. "Toddlers runnin' around in nothing but diapers can probably get messy." The girl already didn't exactly seem to trust them completely. He didn't want to mess up his first chance at help in this bizarre new place.

Mina nodded slowly then smiled. "You're a genius! That's almost as brilliant as the suggestions this one girl with really green eyes had."

"Green eyes…?" Sam asked slowly.

"Yeah, it's weird. She's really new—I'll never seen her before—and she knew just what to do. Like an Emergency Action Chief to handle disasters and a leader and stuff." Edilio's eyes bugged at the term and even Caine looked slightly uncomfortable at the mention of a 'leader.'

Sam nodded bleakly. He had an idea who this girl could be. "That's…really weird."

They continued to chat about aimless things as they went down the corridor. Sam and Edilio were the main two who would talk to Mina but Caine would occasionally respond. Along the way, they ran into a boy who Mina introduced at Raynold. He seemed pleasant enough to Mina until he caught sight of Sam, Edilio, and Caine. The boy's eyes widened and he haughtily left, mumbling about something he had to do. Mina smiled and explained that he had a lot of work on his hands. After that they had reached the rooms they were supposed to stay in. Edilio and Sam were only across the hallway while Caine was a few rooms down. The two townies got settled in while Mina dragged Caine and his 'sore arm' down to an examining room.

* * *

**Part III coming up soon. Do you guys like this so far? I have a feeling Edilio and Caine are a bit out of character. Technically our 'villain' and heroes have met each other for the first time. Only 38,000 words later xD. Review or I shall find Drake to come and 'Drakify' your computer o.O Just kidding, guys!**

_**HungryInTheDarkForNachosLOL**_**- Thank you very much for your review! I was worried about that part being too comical but things are about to get very serious and there won't be much room for humor D:**


	13. The Game Begins Part III

**Disclaimer: **The Gone Series belongs to Michael Grant. I want to live in a castle and be Batman.  
**Time Frame: **Post-Lies as if Plague hasn't existed yet.  
**Author's Note: **Goooollllleeeee! I've been gone for a long while, haven't I? I bet you guys have wondered where I was. You haven't? Oh, well. All right then... xD

* * *

Raynold shifted slightly in his hard, plastic hospital chair. He glanced over at Drake who was flexing his whip with a relaxed expression on his face. The sadist looked up and glared at Ray.

"What do you want?" he demanded. Ray shook his head and looked back to the ground. He was furiously deciding what to do. He had seen the three kids he needed to find in this very hospital. Ray shivered. Mina had been with them. If he told Drake or Nerezza now, they would rip the girl to shreds to keep her from talking. She hadn't done anything wrong. Ray was slowly realizing Nerezza wasn't the savior he had thought she was originally. He really liked Mina, especially after she had helped him with the many trips to pick up other injured kids. The boy didn't want to see her hurt, much less wanting to be the reason she would be injured.

He rubbed his forehead. _What to do, what to do…_

Suddenly he heard voices pass by his room. One was very feminine while the other was low. Ray jumped up to see who it was. He deliberately blocked the entire window of the door so Drake couldn't see over his shoulder. With a skip in his heart, he saw it was Mina and the shadowy boy. She was trying to hold a conversation with him with which the boy seemed to take only minor interest in.

"Who is it?" Drake asked, he himself only being barely interested in who it was.

Ray watched them slip into an examination room. He took a deep breath. The guy with Mina would be safe for the meantime while Drake and he went after the other two. Ray made sure the pair were completely out of sight before turning to Drake. He forced excitement into his voice.

"I saw them!"

"Saw who?" Drake didn't even look up.

"The two guys Nerezza wanted! The surfer dude and the Mexican." Ray said loudly.

Drake looked up from his whip, a cross expression on his face. "Yeah, well last time you said it, you ended up dragging me in here. I could have slashed some backs before being thrown into this mission with you. Which is, by the way, not fun. And I tend to become _aggressive_ when I'm not having fun. Are you _sure_ you saw them?" There was an underlying threat to Drake's words.

Ray shivered slightly. "I'm absolutely sure it was them." He racked his brain for proof. "The Mexican kept calling the surfer 'Sam.'" Ray knew it was a dare but it seemed to have gotten the monster's attention. "And the Mexican had a gun!" Ray had seen a flash of metal in the folds of the boy's shirt. Clearly he was trying to hide his weapon but Raynold had perfect vision and saw right through it.

"Temple and the wetback sheriff," Drake murmured, dead eyes growing bright with malice. "Maybe you aren't just seeing things. Let's go!" His whip snapped close enough to Ray's ear to almost make him flinch.

Ray nodded and slipped outside. He made sure to pass by the room Mina was in and shout a warning. It couldn't have been very long and detailed since 'Whiphand' was practically breathing down his neck right behind him. Ray quickly thought up one that was subtle enough to slip by the sadist.

"Hey, Mina! I thought today was you day off today!" He shouted, rushing Drake quickly past the room. He wasn't sure if he imagined it or not, but he thought he saw the shadow boy's face flash for a moment before disappearing out of sight. "You should leave as _soon as possible_ and catch some sleep. _Hurry_ up and go home."

Mina was silent for a moment. "I have some things I have to do!" she called back. Ray wasn't sure if she had gotten the hint or not. He hoped she had. At least she hadn't mentioned _what_ she had to do. If she had shouted out about the three strangers, Ray was sure he—and Mina—would die just then and there.

Drake didn't seem to notice anything. His mind was too busy thinking of ways to torture 'Temple and the wetback' as he had put it. Ray could have sung opera while tap dancing in front of him and Drake wouldn't have realized it. His mind was too full of bloody fantasies.

Ray suppressed a disgusted sigh and led Drake down the hallways to where he thought the two would be. To purposely irk Drake, he had chosen the longest possible way. He had crossed one bathroom six times and the sadist _still_ didn't notice. Ray shook his head sadly and went down his twelfth flight of stairs.

* * *

"I think Nerezza is here."

"Nerezza? That girl who always hung around Orsay?" Edilio asked, tilting his head.

Sam nodded. He had forgotten that his friend had been unconscious for most of the part with Nerezza and Mother Mary. People had told the Honduran what had happened but apparently it must not have been a very accurate cover or many facts must've been dropped. Sam quickly refreshed Edilio on what happened. He nodded sagely.

"What makes you think Nerezza is here?" he asked Sam.

"Mina told me that this girl with green eyes suddenly showed up and nobody knew who she was. Well, this mysterious girl knew _just_ what to do to keep the town from falling apart. I think she's Nerezza."

Edilio suddenly paled. "If Nerezza is here…then Caine must be right. That monster…the Darkness Lana always talks about…must be here." He absentmindedly rubbed his chest where Lana had shot him while she was possessed by the Darkness.

Sam frowned. "Yeah." He shuddered and rubbed his arms again. The two were talking in Sam's room right after Mina had dropped them off. She had waved goodbye and dragged a protesting Caine away. Sam and Edilio quickly grabbed the chance to talk without worry of being overheard by stranger's ear or a Coates's ear. After talking with Astrid and Lana, Sam felt like he understood the Darkness a little better than the others did. Naturally Caine would know the most out of the three except Sam hadn't wanted to ask him yet.

"The Darkness is bad," Edilio concluded flatly.

"Really bad," agreed Sam. "It could be moving here to try to finish what it started in Perdido Beach. We just have to make sure it doesn't posses anyone like it did with Lana or Caine. It got too far with Drake."

Edilio's frown deepened. "With Nerezza here, I think some people already are."

* * *

"So, how come for the sudden visit to see your cousins?" Mina asked cheerfully as she led Caine to an examination room. "Definitely not the best time to visit."

Caine blinked at her then shook his head slowly. "Oh, actually we aren't here to visit cousins. That was just a lie my brother came up with." _Stupid Sam and his stories._

Mina's smile faltered for a moment. "Then _why_ are you here?"

"You won't believe me," Caine said thickly.

She smiled warmly at him. "Try me," Mina said, leading him down another hallway. Caine knew he should be taking note of the twists just in case he needed to escape but he didn't really care. _If Sam wants me, he can come find me, _he reasoned. "Every person over the age of 15 just disappeared. It can't get any weirder."

_Um, yes it can. I've _lived _it for a year._ The boy was silent for a moment. He was trying to get the story straight in his head. He briefly wondered about telling the truth. He could just picture it in his mind. _'Yeah, so I can move anything I want with my mind, my brother shoots lasers out of his hands and the Mexican? Well, he's just a good guy, I guess. We all get sent to this place by some genius's mentally challenged little brother and we are being chased by a pyschopath who literally has a whip for an arm. Some radioactive monster gave it to him if he'd be its slave. What a ride. Hey, what are you doing? No, I do not _want_ my straitjacket back. No, I do not want to go back to Saint Johansson's or whatever the place is you're talking about. Yes, I really can move things with my mind. Wanna see? Wait! Come back! Don't lock me up!' _Caine grimaced. A 'Let's Go To Coates Conversation' was what he would have called it back before the FAYZ ever happened. Back when terrorizing the adults was normal.

Mina led him to a large white room with various machines. She set him down on a cool hospital cot and crossed her arms. "Tell me," was all she said. Caine sighed and dove into his story. It took all of his already shredded charm and wit to try to make it somewhat plausible. Even then Caine thought he sounded like a loon and he had _been_ there throughout the entire thing. He started with the beginning of the FAYZ and his rule and worked through defeating the Gaiaphage. He touched briefly about the flight to the island before working back into the actions that had led him here. He explained all about Little Pete and Sam and Edilio. He even mentioned Diana a few times. By the time he had finished, Mina was staring at him with a look of wonder and horror. Caine knew she thought he was mad. It had taken almost two hours to tell and she politely never interrupted except to ask an occasional question. At one point during his story he saw the kid from the hallway peer in through the window. He instantly stiffened and wondered if he should just act casually or move away. The boy moved away and Caine was rewarded with a sight more terrifying. He had been so horrorstruck to see Drake, Caine threw himself off the bed. _I killed him a long time ago!_ He argued in his head, remembering the night they crashed through Perdido Beach. _Drake's dead!_ But here he was with his shark grin and horrible whip. Caine breathed out shakily in relief. Drake hadn't seemed to have seen him—too lost in some awful fantasy which Caine had no doubt he was part of. His throwing himself off the bed didn't earn him any sanity points from Mina. When Drake was gone, Caine slowly lifted himself back on the cot. Something had bit him was his poor excuse.

The first thing Mina did when the boy in front of her finished his story was check to see if he was burning a fever. She pressed her hand against his forehead. Caine protested and pushed her away.

"You don't seem like you have a fever. How hard did you hit your head when the car hit the tree?"

Caine scowled. "See? You don't believe me. And we didn't hit a tree. There was no car. I told you that whole cousin story was a cover-up. I just appeared here with Temple and the Mexican! And now I have to leave. You probably should too…" _Before the psychopath with a freaking whip on his arm finds us._

Mina's lips tightened and went white. "I'll have to run some tests on you to make sure your brain is functioning properly."

Caine paled. "You can't! You're what…thirteen? You aren't a doctor!" He shouted, not caring if Drake was in the next room. He wasn't about to let a kid do anything to him. If he was actually hurt and if there was a healer nearby then maybe. But from a kid who was just getting used to the FAYZ-like thing that trapped them? Not on his life. He was only a few seconds from using his powers. That would certainly prove his story. It was about was all Caine was able to think before a needle stuck him in the arm. He gasped slightly as he felt himself fall forward. It had felt just like when he ate Sanjit's poisoned food. He slipped into a deep sleep for the first time since the day at the island. And for once he wasn't worried about Drake or getting back or Sam and the others. But he really hoped the girl wasn't going to try to perform surgery on him.

* * *

"Caine isn't back yet. D'ya think Nerezza might've gotten him?" Sam asked, feeling slightly worried. Though he had no great love for his brother, it was helpful to have an ally in a strange place. If Caine went back to the Darkness's side, they all were in trouble.

Edilio shrugged. "I bet he just sulked back to his room. His room is a few away from where ours are so we might not have heard or seen them coming back."

Sam nodded, feeling a bit better. "Okay," he said with a forced smile. "We'll just grab him when we break out tomorrow."

"Break out?" Edilio looked surprised. "But…there's _food_! Why are we running away from the place with food? Do you know how long it has been, man, since I have had something with a nutritional fact bar on it? Loooong time."

"Yeah, well, we can steal some on the way out. I think we should get away as soon as possible. Do you remember the expression that boy—what's his name…Ray?—gave us?"

Edilio nodded. "I thought he was just surprised. We aren't the most common people to see." He rolled his eyes. "Apparently me and my 500 names."

Sam shook his head. "I don't know. I just had this feeling he isn't to be trusted…not yet at least. Not until we get to know him. We shouldn't trust anyone here yet until they prove themselves to be trustworthy." A picture of Caine flashed briefly in the boy's mind.

Edilio seemed to have the same idea. The boys talked a little bit more about many different things. Most revolved around things back at Perdido Beach. Was everyone still okay? How many fish had the fishers caught? Was the council was able to handle itself with only five members? Was the stupid Human Crew acting up again since Sam and Edilio were gone? The main question the two wondered about was rather simple.

How come it was _they_ who were sent to Pilot Spring?

Neither of them could come up with a suitable answer. Sam's reason was because they were the first three Little Pete saw at the beach while Edilio's reason was more practical. He said it was because they must've drawn the short straw sometime in their life and was sent here because of it. Karma, basically. The two talked a little bit more before a yawn spread between them. They smiled sheepishly at each other. It was clearly too late to be talking. They decided to break out the first thing in the morning after swiping a good bit out of the hospital's vending machine. Edilio called out good night as he crossed the hallway. Sam turned out the nights and slipped into the stiff hospital bed. The last time he had been in one of these was when he broke his wrist a few years ago. Back when all he wanted to do was surf with his brah and survive school. The thought of his past live made him feel somewhat relaxed. Sam breathed out contentedly and closed his eyes.

He was halfway through his next breath when the pillow came down on his face.

* * *

**A bit of a cliffhanger there, aye? And guess what? You won't find out what's going to happen to Sam until, like, four chapters. Bwhaha! I love random filler chapters. Thanks to all of you readers and reviewers out there. You, not coffee, are what get me up and about in the very early morning. **

_**HungryInTheDarkForNachosLOL - **_**I hoped that Sam wasn't too OOC in this. You will get to see more of Malachi in the later chapters. He's definitely a character. You can decide for yourself if that's a good or bad thing. Thanks for the review!  
_Kate of Carlay _- I've had people point out gun safeties to me many times. It's pretty hard to keep track of a little button xD. Just wait until all of these hidden clues come into place. Thank you very much for reviewing!**


	14. The White Pawns Prepare Part I

**Disclaimer: **The Gone Series belongs to Michael Grant. Wouldn't they be epic movies?  
**Time Frame: **Post-Lies as if Plague hasn't existed yet.  
**Author's Note: **Goodness gracious. At the rate I'm going, don't expect another chapter until next year. Or until my horoscope tells me to.

* * *

"_Hey, uh, guys… I don't mean to bug you or anything…but where's Edilio?"_

Quinn glanced nervously around the half circle surrounding where Edilio had stood not a few moments ago. The silence roared in all of their ears as loudly as thunder. Finally Brianna broke the strained quiet.

"I don't know what's going on but I want to find out _now!"_ Despite all of the girl's bluster, a touch of hysteria was weaning its way into her voice.

Dekka and Quinn nodded uneasily. They too were a bit freaked out. Each one looked at the person they thought was the next to go. After a minute of hardly any breathing, the remaining crew seemed to take one unified breath.

"What now?" Brianna asked flatly, glancing from Dekka to Astrid. The former was lost for words and just shrugged. Astrid frowned and rubbed at her eyes.

"I don't…I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Quinn half shouted at her, his voice slightly rising. "You're Astrid the Genius! You're supposed to know where your boyfriend, his brother, and his new best friend went!"

Astrid's eyes grew wider and she felt like screaming herself. Dekka decided to stop the panicking before it became uncontrollable. "Calm down, Quinn," she said in a low voice. Quinn blinked and sighed.

"Sorry Astrid," he apologized sullenly. Astrid tersely accepted his apology before glancing at Little Pete again. The others followed her gaze.

"D'ya think he just moved them away? To try to stop trouble?" Brianna asked softly.

"Then why did Edilio disappear as well?" Quinn countered. "_He_ wasn't doing anything."

"Edilio had a gun? Maybe Petey remembered it from Drake." Astrid offered helpfully.

Quinn looked suspicious. "Yeah, maybe. Or maybe they just disappeared like all the adults did a year ago. They poofed. Gone forever. Which means adios for us as well. Kiss your butt goodbye." He glanced up towards whatever was above them—be it sky or the FAYZ wall. While fishing, he would do that quite a few times when he was stressed. Stare at the sky and try to figure out what it was. It sure beat worrying about all of his problems.

Dekka cleared her throat loudly. The remaining three turned and stared at her. The girl quickly threw up her emotionless mask. "I think none of us know what happened for sure—but we can't rule out any possibilities. Maybe Astrid's brother just freaked and sent them away. Maybe. But we also can't forget that…" Dekka paused and readjusted her expression to a stony indifference. "What Quinn is suggesting may in fact be true; Sam and Edilio might actually be gone. For good. If that's the case, we must continue as if this is just a normal day. And it could be, for all we know."

Her heavy statement pressed down hard of each of the teens—freaks and normals alike. Astrid felt a frustrated tear well up in her eye while Quinn tried to quell a powerfully rising scream in his throat. Dekka looked weary and Brianna's eyes blazed with determination. The girl tightened her helter-skelter pigtails and dropped to one knee and retied her laces.

"What are you doing now?" Quinn asked, watching her with tired eyes. He had successfully managed to cut off his panic and replaced it with a dull fear. All of a sudden he was fairly sure he didn't want to be one the council anymore. If this was the _average_ day, he hated to see what a particularly troublesome one was like.

Brianna's head jerked up so fast her pigtails exploded around her in a red halo. "I don't know what you guys are doing, but I'm going to go look for the rest of our—" Whatever word she was going to say was cut off and the girl disappeared in a sandy cloud.

* * *

"He loved me…he loved me not…" Diana paused and a sneer lit up on her face. She crumbled the daisy she held in her hand and threw it as far as she could. She sighed angrily and uprooted a few more innocent flowers. "Who am I to be plucking petals, crying over some bigheaded sociopath? I don't like him at all! In fact, I hate him!" She ranted to herself, throwing her fistful of daisy heads across the once well manicured lawn. Enough ocean spray had hit the flowers for them to survive without constant rain although the petals were fragile and dull. The girl had almost hoped that by some miracle, they were the same lovely and healthy flowers before the FAYZ but it just wasn't to be. Just stupid, wishful thinking. The same kind that got her into this mess. Stupidly wishing that Caine and she could live happily ever after.

She glared balefully at them before chucking another handful into the surf. The girl stared out across her new view. Right after taking a hand drawn bath, Diana had stuffed a few energy bars in a bag and went exploring. She had found a relatively calm harbor where the ocean lapped gently against the sand bar, which then soon faded into a brittle, grassy mound she was currently lounging on. The girl stretched her legs, kicked off her shoes, and wound her toes around the soft sand. Her hand roamed blindly for something else to throw. Her scared palm hit a smooth shell. Long fingers closed around it tight enough for the edges to bite into the girl. She brought it up to her face and studied it for a moment then dropped it into the sand beside her.

Diana let her head fall backwards and stared up at the overcast sky. She sighed loudly and took in the calming sounds of the ocean. As much as she tried, she couldn't erase the screams of that boy's adopted family or the shaking voice of Caine as he walked away. With a willpower that wasn't entirely hers, Diana surged to her feet. Taking three brisk steps, she stood ankle deep into the cold ocean. Slight tremors rocked her body and caused her teeth to rattle. Suddenly the girl dropped to her knees and crawled deeper into the water. The waves lapping against her thighs and elbows were more from water disturbance than actual waves.

"I hate him," she was murmuring, scrubbing at her arms with the salt water. It sung her various injuries but the girl didn't care. She was trying to wash away the heat from Caine's touch on her arms. "I hate him!" she said louder, almost unsure of herself. Diana climbed back to her feet, stumbled back to shore, grabbed the shell and glanced at it again. She slipped it into a pocket and scooped up another, larger rock. With a deep grunt of frustration, she heaved it as far as she could. Built in anger carried the rock many more feet away. She gasped at the amount of tension that left her. Quickly she grabbed another rock and threw it. "I hate him!" she screamed. It spiraled through the air and landed with a satisfying splash into the cold surf. Diana laughed weakly and shook her head. She grabbed three more rocks. "I hate him and his stupid, controlling powers!" One rock tumbled through the air at breakneck speed. Diana rolled another in her palm and chucked it. "I hate him and his stupid ego!" The girl looked down at her last compliant pebble and froze. What else did she hate about Caine? That he kept saving her life? That he hated almost everyone? That he loved her? Unable to decide, Diana chose to just cancel out that stone until she had a good reason. She tossed it behind her.

"Ow!" a boyish voice shouted.

Diana spun around, her heart in her throat. Had Caine listened to everything she had just poured out? Her spirits fell when she saw nobody there. At least no one visible. "Come out Bug."

Bug slowly faded into the visible spectrum then faded out, rubbing his head. "That was a good throw," he said sullenly.

"Why were you listening to what I was saying? It's not nice to spy, you know." Diana told him curtly. "But you wouldn't know anything about manners, would you?"

"I saw you out here…I kinda was wondering if you ha—" Bug started sheepishly.

"I have food. Here, you pig!" Diana threw the bag to where the boy's voice was coming from with evident disgust in her voice.

The backpack flap opened up and Diana saw various contents spilled out across the sand and grass. A chocolate energy bar floated in midair, unwrapped itself, and promptly began to shrink. Despite her repulsion for her intruder and his sneaking habits, the girl was somewhat fascinated to see the bar seemingly consume itself.

"So why aren't you following every beck and call of our Fearless Leader?" Diana asked after a while. There was silence and she was half sure Bug had left. "You can have more if you tell me why you were following me and if Caine sent you."

Finally Bug spoke again. "I want the one flavored like strawberry."

Diana rolled her eyes and kicked the nearby snack bar towards the voice. It too was soon gone. Bug's face slowly faded into her vision. He stared at her for a moment, a look of wariness and disbelief on his face. "So it was Caine who you hate? You seemed to be pretty angry at someone."

"How do you know it wasn't you I was talking about?" Diana told him icily. "You seem pretty sure of yourself, _Bug_, for someone who could easily be smashed against a wall. Caine could do that to you if you tell him what you saw."

Bug's expression froze into a suspicious smirk. "Wait, you don't know?"

"Know what? How many brain cells you have? 'Cause that answer is zero." Still, Diana's blood turned slightly cold. _It's just from the ocean,_ she reasoned to herself.

Bug's scowl faded out of sight. "No," he said quickly. The invisible boy paused. "It's Caine."

"What about him?" snapped Diana. "Actually, I don't care about him anymore. He could have jumped off a cliff for all I care."

Bug became visible again and looked at her oddly. "That's what he did. Caine jumped off a cliff. He's dead."

* * *

"_You're _Astrid the Genius. _You _should know what to do," muttered the girl as she strode up the rather steep sand dune. Why there were suddenly steep sand dunes near Perdido Beach was beyond her. She was too wrapped up in her current conflict to really care. "How did that fisherman ever make it onto the council in the first place?" Astrid complained louder. Having an I.Q. much higher than the average person, the girl already knew why: Quinn had found a way to help stabilize not only the food source from the ocean but a way to indirectly stop the zekes. Besides, sitting in a boat didn't need much courage and smarts—in fact, sometimes the weaker kids were drafted into that job. All the citizens knew about Fedora-boy was that something fishy had happened a while back between the town's infamous twins and he brought food to the table. Astrid pondered over this for a while. The main opinion that almost everyone shared of the boy was probably along the lines of 'yeah, he's a bit weird, but he feeds us.' Astrid sighed and shook her head. _It's hard to fight logic with an empty stomach_. She continued along the sandy ground and soon reached the edge of Perdido Beach. The girl paused again and considered her route. If she went through town, she'd be expected to answer questions truthfully. The blond wasn't sure on what she would say but she was fairly certain it wasn't going to be the full truth. The entire town would fall into panic if she said their two leaders just suddenly poofed out along with one of their last remaining enemies. In order to delay the inevitable, she chose to go the longer, less traveled trail past the old access road. She was grateful that Dekka had volunteered to take Petey because she didn't want her younger brother to be near this place ever.

As she strolled down the access road, Astrid shivered. Before the FAYZ, the barren area held a cold, forbidding feel to it. Not much had changed since the wall went up. In what used to be called Bully Row, people used to dare others to see how long they could last on the street and stay in one piece. She glanced at a particularly decrepit house with a sloping roof and broken windows. Of the last four tenants to have lived there, only one remained. One had died in a knife fight in the first few weeks of the FAYZ, another at the Perdido Beach battle and the last from suicide. Though the school had fallen—after all, who needs to know about common denominators when the world is falling to pieces—its bullies refused to fade away. They all flocked to the grungy square to escape Sam's 'you work, you play nice, you survive' rule. He of course fixed that problem right after the fire and now the once terrifying lane soon became a ghost street.

Astrid kept walking and paused by another house. Instead of being the typical scummy gray most of the houses were, this one had a yellowish tint to it. It looked happier than the rest of the shacks surrounding it with a crooked window box hanging below one window and a white lawn chair overturned on the front lawn. Whoever had lived in it before clearly wanted more in life than what they had been given. If they ever escaped the FAYZ, Astrid would have liked to have met the past residents. She sighed and pushed forward. _Does it really matter who lived there though?_ They were gone and like what Sam, Edilio, and Caine proved earlier that day, the remaining Perdido Beach citizens didn't have much time left either. _Way to think positive, Astrid._

Her mind drifted away from yellow houses and window boxes to what had happened to the three back at the sand dunes. It seemed like Caine was just about to lose it when everyone started collapsing. Sam disappeared followed by his brother and Edilio. Astrid noted with a slight hint of dread that Little Pete also held a prominent part in the whole drama. When his screaming stopped, the people he looked at disappeared. Was Quinn partly right in saying her brother was able to 'poof' people out of the FAYZ? She didn't want to think about that either. The girl found herself at the opening of Bully Row. She blinked and stared back down the street. Hardly any good had come from that place. The only thing she thought counted was Orc and it wasn't until a radioactive devil turned him into a half ton rock monster and a tiny worm threatened to chew out his cheek did the boy turned to the good side. All in all, Astrid considered that it was perhaps one of the biggest transformations in the entire town. Orc's little ally, Howard, also changed for the better. Though the council rat was still crooked, at least he wasn't hanging with Caine or his old cronies anymore.

Thinking of Orc and Howard made her reflect on the creature in their basement. She wished Sam or someone would just finally destroy the thing and put a final end to Drake for once and for all. But when it became Brittney, like Orc, Astrid had a difficult time wanting to end the thing's life. Even though the creature begged to be put out of its misery, it felt too much like murder. Now that Perdido's most powerful were missing in action, she had no idea on who could stop Drake if he ever took total control of the body. Orc was the only one who could stand a chance. The blonde felt like the two should know about what had happened first. Besides, anything that delayed her from entering Perdido Beach was best for the citizens and herself. She steered her course towards the makeshift house Howard, Orc, and the monster shared.

The first thing that tipped Astrid off that something was wrong was the fact that the door was open. The second thing was the door was completely ripped off its hinges. Her breath caught in her throat and the girl felt her blood turn to ice. She was stuck between three options: running to the house, stay frozen in place like she was, or turning tail and sprint back, screaming all the way to Perdido Beach Plaza. _Clearly that Drake monster is out_, she reasoned with herself. _If I do the first or the last option and he's still there, I'm dead. If I just stay here and he comes out or comes back, I'm dead. _Her options were not cheerful. She absently patted the empty air beside her.

"Shh, shh, Petey, it's alright," she said without thinking. The girl stopped what she was doing and chastised herself for allowing her fear to control her common sense. Petey was back at Perdido Beach with Dekka. She almost wished her brother was with her. _Then he could poof us out if things go bad,_ she thought to herself almost defensively. She chastised herself again for the thoughts. Of course the girl was being selfish. Better she die alone then bring her little brother into it. In a quick, adrenaline forced decision, Astrid walked quietly towards the marred house. She paused and listened for what felt like forever. No sounds could be detected. _But could it be a trick from Drake?_ Astrid paused to think. _I doubt the sadist would be able to come up with a plan…let alone spell the word "plan." _She slipped inside the house. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. From the pale light from the door way, she could see a partial "Sammy Sun." It didn't look like it was slashed—it almost seemed like it had been deflated or self combusted. The sides were black and hard and no light glowed from its center. Astrid's wide eyes turned slowly towards a form in the corner. It looked too small to be a large piece of furniture but too big to be a thrown blanket. She took in the ripped jacket and bruised face and screamed. Her hands flew to her mouth and she pressed herself into a corner. From a distance she heard loud footsteps shuffle towards the house. She held her breath and tried not to sneeze in the dust.

"Whut da hell happ'nd to muh door?" a slurred voice sounded angrily from outside.

Astrid was so relieved she almost burst into tears. "Or—I mean, Charles!" she screamed, "Charles! Help!"

Orc's huge frame filled the doorframe and blocked out all of the light. "Ahtrid?" his drunken voice sounded surprised. Astrid heard the slosh of wet gravel and suddenly the smell of beer and earth filled the room. "Did you do dis to muh door?" he asked thickly. Orc cleared the door and the pale light came back in. He noticed Astrid's slightly splotchy face and wide eyes. "Is sump'n wrong?"

Astrid turned and pointed a shaking hand at the heap in the floor.

"It's Howard."

* * *

**All who think the characters are slightly OOC, say aye. (Aye xD) I'm gettin' rusty at writing with these fellas. Thanks to everyone who's been reading this. I know it's kind of daunting but this story just hit over 1,700 hits. Wow guys, you are awesome! Thanks especially to my magnificent reviews and subscribers.**

**_HungryInTheDarkForNachosLOL_ - Depressed, slightly crazy, and fleeing from Drake? That can be arranged :D Thanks for the review!  
_KillCaine01 _- I have to admit, your awesome review was the thing that made me pull this story back out from underneath its rock. This chapter is dedicated to you! Anyway, thank you very much for the wonderful encouragement!**


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